


Halloween

by stresselephant



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, rise of the guardians
Genre: Eventual Smut, Hey. just keep in mind I wrote this YEARS ago. It's been legit like four years and I am no longer 13, M/M, Slash, and yes it is finished, but people seem to like it so i'll keep it up, even though it's very tempting to tear it down with a vengence, just keep in mind i was 13, sorry - Freeform, the tags just wont let me make it offical, which explains the terrible writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-21
Updated: 2013-10-21
Packaged: 2017-12-30 01:36:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 31,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1012469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stresselephant/pseuds/stresselephant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Man in Moon had been watching Harry ever since he was nearly killed on Halloween night. He had watched the struggles the boy went through. Watched as he made life changing sacrifices. The boy was selfless. Harry James Potter would become the spirit of Halloween. Harry and Jack were both chosen to become Guardians,now, they fight side by side to bring down Pitch. Slash Harry/Jack</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Harry Potter or Rise Of The Guardians. Unfortunately.

O.o  
He had done it. They had won the War. Finally, Voldemort had been defeated, struck down by a reflected killing curse. How quaint. Harry stumbled through the bloody halls of Hogwarts. It was all too clear that there had been a battle hours before. Harry stepped tiredly over a chuck of the castle wall, blasted out of its place. When he had gotten away from the crowds, all he wanted to do was sleep. He had a bone-deep tiredness; one he didn’t think would be cured around people congratulating him for committing murder. That’s what it was, really. Harry felt bile rise in his throat. He had murdered someone. Shoving the dark thoughts to the back of his mind, he continued his trek. He didn’t think that going to the tower would be wise, the dormitories were easy to find and he really didn’t want to be hounded by fans.   
Would the Room of Requirements still work? Harry thought to himself. It had been subjected to fiendfire beforehand, but it might be worth a shot.  
Now with a destination in mind, he continued up to the third floor.  
Harry opened the door carefully, ready to slam it close if the fiendfire found its way through. All he saw, though, was a cosy little room with normal, everyday fire lit up in the fireplace. But what really caught his attention was the double bed in the middle of the room. With a groan of appreciation, Harry stumbled into the room, closing the door behind him. Slipping out of his shoes and shirt, he slumped into the bed, letting himself relax the first time that night and feel into the deepest sleeps he had ever had.

O.o  
Man in the Moon had been watching Harry for some time now. In fact, ever since he was nearly killed on Halloween night. He had watched the struggles the boy went through. Watched as he made life changing sacrifices. The boy was self-less. He watched now as the young man collapsed into the bed made for his needs, and entered one of the most peaceful sleeps the boy had in a very long time. Should he put his plan into motion? It would be beneficial for the boy, and even Jack Frost if everything went accordingly. With a final nod, Manny made his decision. Harry James Potter would become the spirit of Halloween.


	2. Hello Mr. Moon

Harry woke up with a groan. It felt like someone has taken a wooden bat to his head.   
“Harry James Potter.” Harry tried to sit up with alarm, but found he was frozen into place. The soothing voice seemed to notice this.  
“You need not struggle, there is no danger.”  
For some strange reason, he believed the voice. He could feel his tense muscle relax. He trusted this stranger completely.  
Of course the Man in Moon knew this was going to happen, as it did with every new spirit he made. It seemed that his voice had a calming effect.   
“What do you want?” Harry asked cautiously. Even if he did trust the strange being, didn’t change the fact that he just came from a War.  
“You have acted selflessly throughout your entire life. You have made many sacrifices and we are grateful. All I am doing is rewarding you.”  
“Look, if you’re going to bring up the ‘Master of Death’ thing, I’m sorry but I want no part in it. I snapped the elder wand and ditched the stone.” Harry said. He didn’t want to offend the being, but this was a matter he had to put his foot down on.  
“This does not include that title, but you would become immortal. If you will allow me to do so, I would make you the Spirit of Halloween.”  
“Spirit of Halloween? But I don’t want to be immortal! I want to live a normal life! I have never been able to have that, this is my chance.” Harry shouted.   
“You would be bringing joy to many people, keeping many safe. You would also find something you have been looking for a very long time. You would be free from the hassles of Mankind. You would be able to rest and heal.”  
“Look, I can’t. Even if I wanted to I have expectations back home! I can’t just pack up and go, there was a War moments ago!”  
“It was not as recent as you think. Time is different in this realm. While we have only been in here for a few minutes, a year has paced in the real world.”  
“…what?” Harry gasped. A year? He had been missing for a full year. What happened to them all?  
“Do not fret, your friends are living well.”  
“You said spirit before…”  
“People will only be able to see you if they believe in you.”  
“Does that mean I can’t even say goodbye?” Harrys voice cracked.  
“Your friends have always believed in you Harry Potter.”   
“What about Ginny? She doesn’t-“  
“She has moved on. She will understand, she has been suspecting it for a while.”  
Harry hesitated. The idea alone seemed absolutely ridiculous. But did he really have much say in this? He was already a year in the future, even more now. No, if he was immortal, he would have to witness all his friends’ deaths. He couldn’t do that. He had no desire to outlive anyone. All he wanted to be was normal.   
“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t see the people I love die. Not again.” Harry heaved a sigh. He wanted to sit up, but he still could not move. Harry laid there, trepidation filling him as he waited for the voice to answer.  
“Harry, you leave me no choice. I didn’t want to say anything, but you’re dying, Harry. Ever since that Horcrux was removed from your body, you have been dying. Do you recall feeling drained after the battle? That was no magical exhaustion. The curse on Hallows Eve night should have killed you; the Horcrux is what kept you alive.”  
“What?”  
“Nothing survives the killing curse, Harry.” Man in Moon was grave. He hadn’t wished to tell the boy this. He wanted to keep him ignorant, make him a spirit and have a chance at a happy life. But, as they always do, things got complicated. He had no choice.  
Harry couldn’t believe what the stranger was saying. Voldemort was the one that kept him alive that night? Harry felt a lump in his throat. He didn’t want to die, not yet. He had always dreamed of dying in his bed, next to someone he loved. If he survived the War that was the way he was planning to go. But fate was cruel, that much he had learned, and death was unforgiving and merciless.  
“Fine.” Harry whispered. “I’ll do it. You say I’ll be helping people?”  
“More than you will ever understand.”  
“And I’ll be able to visit my friends?”  
“Until they die and after that, if they choose so.”  
“Alright. Do what you have to do.” Harry breathed. He closed his eyes and heard the strange voice utter one more thing, until he was consumed by a fiery pain.  
“Then, Mister Potter, you are now the spirit of All Hallows Eve.”   
O.o  
If you were to visit the Hogwarts Library on this night, you would notice a regular visitor sitting in the far corner of the room. The woman was clutching a book, reading it with hungry eyes. She was named Hermione Granger, one of the survivors of the final battle. She was revising on Potions, as her NEWTS were approaching. She was one of the few in her year that returned to Hogwarts to finish their education. With Ron refusing to step foot in the school, and Harry missing, she had no one to study with. Neville had returned, but was now Professor Sprout’s apprentice. He was currently in Australia, collecting leaves of some kind of deadly, but necessary plant. Ginny was in Hogsmead, with her Boyfriend Dean. Having no one to study with did not bother Hermione. She had always rather liked the solitude, no one was there to harp about her studying habits, or groan when she finished one book, only to pick up another. It was just her, and the words on the paper. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn’t notice as a boy appeared behind her.  
“Hello Hermione.”

O.o  
Ron Billius Weasley was a very bored man, he would just lay on his coach most of the day, wondering when his girlfriend would be back from Hogwarts. Ron smiled when the thought of Hermione went through his head. His eyes drifted over to the small coffee table, where an engagement ring sat. He reached out for the ring, and caressed it lovingly. One day, it would rest proudly on Hermione’s finger.  
“Ron! You’re getting engaged!” Ron sat up so suddenly, it made his head spin. Stumbling off the coach he stared disbelievingly at his best friend.  
“Harry?”  
O.o  
Madam Pudifoots shop was a terrifying bright pink. It was everywhere. On the walls, ceiling, napkins, there was no escape. Ginny sank down in her pink wooden chair. Dean had gone to the toilet, leaving her to deal with all this…pink.  
Ginny sighed as she righted herself again. Maybe she could distract herself by looking at the passer buys. She glanced at the window when a mess of jet black hair caught her eye. Harry? She shot out of her chair and made a dash to the door. Ripping it open, she flung herself outside. And there he was, in all his glory.  
“Harry?”  
“Hi Gin.”


	3. The Different Kind of Spirit

Harry stood on the roof of a rundown house. Halloween night was nearing, it was just minutes before sunset would come and darkness would fall. It was Harry’s first Halloween since becoming a spirit; he was a bit nervous with the task ahead. The moon had told him what to do, yes, but it was how to do it that got to Harry. When he had asked, the Moon did not answer him. It had not said a word to him again. Sighing, he rose into the air as the sun went down. Where would he start? Maybe he could concentrate all his powers into one spot. Or he could just close his eyes and wait for the magic to happen. Harry frowned; he had no idea what to do. Children had started to leave their homes, dressed up in all different kinds of creatures. A smile grazed over his features as he looked below him, excitement buzzing through the little bodies. He had to do it for them. Sure, they could get their candy and go home, not getting into the spirit of things, but that was like having Christmas with just presents. Harry knew there was more to All Hallows Eve, just has there was with every other holiday.  
Harry took a deep breath. What had Moon said to him? Open the gates. Maybe he had to find them first. Harry stretched him arms out in front of him, letting his magic seep out of his fingertips. He could feel as his magic spread out, searching for the gates. His eyes widened when he felt his magic brush against something. Releasing where they were located, Harry rolled his eyes. Everything happened in America, didn’t it?  
With the speed he was flying it didn’t take long to reach the gates. Looking around at the scenery Harry chuckled. Of course it was going to be in a haunted graveyard, why would he expect anything else? Resisting the urge to explore, Harry jogged over to where his magic had reacted to. It was a massive tomb, doors made out of black marble. The door was framed by carvings of demons and ghouls. Harry reached out for the handle and pulled, opening the foreboding doors with a grunt of effort. Nothing happened.   
“What? Did I get the wrong place or-“ Harry was interrupted from his musings when he was sent hurtling back as a massive explosion of ghosts rushed out of the opened doors. Throwing his hands over his head, shielded himself from anymore damage he waited on the cold ground, waiting for the rush to stop. With a final whoosh over his head, every ghost was out. Everything was silent for a moment before chattering from the dead started. Standing up on wobbling feat, Harry followed them into the air. Every single ghost that came out were talking among themselves, all staying it a tight circle. Not entirely expecting what he was seeing, he cleared his throat, trying to get the shock out of his system.  
“Um, excuse me?” Harry tried to say, but the ghosts kept on speaking to each other. Were they…gossiping?  
“Oh my. Yes, I did hear about that. Poor Mary, never seen her more depressed in my life.” Said a female ghost floating near him. Harry stared at her in confusion before shaking his head.  
“Excuse me.” Harry said a little louder. Apparently not loud enough. The ghosts just kept ignoring him.  
Feeling a wave of frustration well up inside him, he sent out a wave of powerful magic.  
“Excuse me!” Now he had everyone attention, it was kind of unsettling having over a million ghost stare at him. Most of the gazes were just curious, which was good.  
Clearing his throat, he squared his shoulders before speaking again.  
“My name is Harry Hallows; I’m now the spirit of Halloween.”  
“I thought there wasn’t one!” A male ghost yelled from someone in the crowd.  
“Yeah! Isn’t the Moon the one that lets us out?” This time it was a female voice.  
“The job has been passed down to me. There are probably some new…uh, members, so here’s what you do. Find your families, spend some time with them. Play with the kids if you want. But try not to get into any trouble alright? If you do I’ll put you right back where you came from.”   
The group of ghosts slowly dispatched and as the final one left, Harry shook his head in wonder. From Harry’s understanding, that was only a small group of the dead. Not everyone got through to the world of the living. Just because he had thinned the barrier between the living and the dead, didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Only the strongest ghosts were able to push through. Giving one last look at the doors, that didn’t look nearly as threatening anymore, Harry flew off into the night sky. A smile grazed his lips. It was All Hallows Eve, and Harry was going to have some fun.  
O.o  
He was currently in Brittan, watching joyfully as children ran around in costume. His favourite costume so far had been in America. The little boy was dressed as a Wizard that looked strikingly like Dumbledore. Down to the multi coloured robes and everything. Harry flew over the heads of children, as they collected candy with delight. Was this what it looked like when Voldemort had killed his parents? All so oblivious to the dangers of being out that night? Though, Harry supposed, that was why he was here. To protect the children, to make sure that what had happened to him wouldn’t to anyone else.  
All Hallows Eve was coming to another end for another year. Harry supposed he should be getting the dead back in the afterlife. Harry was pleased with the dead; they were a lot more behaved than he thought they would be. Sure there was a few he had to send back. But the overall turnout was good. He was just about to shoot back to America when he noticed a strange golden light descend from the sky.  
“What the…” Harry whispered to himself. The golden light, no, sand? Shot past him, coiling around itself. Curiosity fuelled Harry’s actions. Cautiously sticking his hand out, he let it brush against his skin. Harry jumped when the sand came alive, whisking around him in the shape of a huge dog, bounding happily around his head. He gave a soft smile and the dog was gone as quick as it had come. Who was the source of all this sand? Harry intended to find out. Rising into the sky, he located where the sand was coming from. Harry stared in confusion as a tiny man, waved his hands around, like he was constructing an orchestra.  
“Um, Hello?” The little man turned his head around and gave a little wave before continuing on with his work. Harry floated awkwardly in the air; hand shoved deeply in his jeans pockets. The little man finished with a flourish before turning back to Harry.   
“Are you the Sandman?” Harry asked. He remembered Petunia telling Dudley about the Sandman, though the memory was faint, this spirit seemed to fit the picture.  
The Sandman gave a nod, before a picture appeared above his head. Harry blinked at the picture of a carved pumpkin head.  
“I’m the spirit of Halloween if that’s what you’re asking.”  
The Sandman smiled at him and nodded.  
“How did you know I existed?”  
Harry understood the next picture immediately. It was the moon.  
“Ah, he talks to you then? It hasn’t said anything to me in a whil-“ Harry was cut off by his magic gave a pulse. The ghosts were getting restless. Looking up at the moon, Harry saw it was midnight.  
“Oh god. Sorry, but I have to run. See you later, yeah?” And with that, Harry sped off into the distance.  
O.o  
Harry had gotten the ghosts back in with moments to spare, just as he forced the last one in, the barrier was strong again. All Hallows Eve was officially over.  
O.o  
Harry never really had much to do in his spare time, considering he had only one day a year that he didn’t really need to prepare for. He visited his friends a lot, but they needed their own time, and Harry couldn’t just float through the door whenever he liked. A smile stretched along his face when he thought of his best friends. Hermione was pregnant with Ron’s child and was going through some hormonal stuff. Things like screaming at Ron whenever he broke a plate or crying when she got frustrated. Maybe that was the reason he didn’t visit every day now. Well, he thought, at least it was Christmas. Ever since his first Christmas as a spirit a year ago, he had found that America was a great place to look at decorations at Christmas. Not only that, but it snowed. He had always loved the snow; it always brought him a strange sought of comfort. When the Dursleys were being extremely nasty, they would lock Harry out for Christmas. Harry didn’t mind though. He would usually wonder over to the park and sit in the swing, watching the snow fall.  
Harry strolled up the cleared pathway, taking in the decorations and lights that covered the houses. Just as he was rounding a corner something round and wet hit Harry in the back of the head. He swivelled around angrily. He spotted a boy that looked around his age, with a smug smile on his face. Harry could only guess that this was a spirit.  
“Hey! What was that for!?” The white haired boy paused, eyes widening.   
“You can see me?”  
“Harry Hallows, Spirit of All Hallows Eve. Of course I can see you!” The boy seemed to deflate somewhat, but perked up immediately.  
“Really? First time I’ve heard of you. Jack Frost.”  
“Yes well, I believe some revenge is in order.” Jacks eyes widened, dodging out of the way of a snowball. A wicked grin appeared on Jacks face.  
“If you think you can beat Jack Frost at snow ball, you have another thing coming!”  
“Bring it on!” Harry taunted. After all, he played against the Weasley twins most his life. Nothing could be as chaotic as that.  
O.o  
Turns out, Harry was wrong. Jack was much better than Harry had given him credit for. But it was kind of cheating that he made a snow storm, as Harry pointed out to a chuckling Jack.  
“Yeah, but you didn’t have to throw pumpkins at me.”


	4. Teddy Bears and Roses

“Harry, wait up!” Jack shouted, only for his voice to be swept away with the wind. He sped up trying to catch up to the Spirit of All Hallows Eve. “Where are we going?”  
“It’s a surprise, of course. Come on! I meant it when I said we need to be there ASAP.”  
“Fine, wanna race there?”  
“You don’t know where we’re going.”  
“Now would be a great time to tell me.”  
“…England. Last one there has to find Bunnymund and steal his Boomerang.”

~Flashback~  
“You just wait Teddy! I’ll take you to see the Lochness Monster. He’s a lovely fellow, bit misunderstood. If it was up to me I would have named him the Lochness Puppy. You’ll love Sand Man, you know who he is, right?” Harry was sitting on the floor with Teddy, cross-legged.  
Teddy nodded, excitement gleaming in his eyes.  
“What about Jack Frost?”   
At this, Teddy frowned. “Who is Jack Frost?”  
“Jack Frost is the Spirit who brings us winter, of course! He is the Spirit of fun, so you will love him. I haven’t seen him in a while, actually.” Harry said with a frown.  
Teddy’s eyes widened with awe. “Can you ask him for it to snow all winter? Then we can have another snow ball fight!”  
“Oh, you’re underestimating him! He could make it snow right now if he wanted to.”  
“Really?! Can you ask him, please?” Teddy was bouncing with excitement.  
“You can ask him yourself. I’ve just got to go get him.” Harry stood from his seating place. “I’ll be back in a moment. Tell Hermione I’m fetching Jack Frost.”  
Teddy nodded in agreement, running off to tell Aunty Hermione the exciting news. With a chuckle, Harry strolled out the door. Teddy would love this almost as much as Jack would.  
~End Flashback~  
O.o  
Jack and Harry were speeding to the ground. The last thing they wanted to do was lose this bet. Jack glanced over at Harry, who was staring determinately at the ground. A smirk crossed over Jacks face as he formed a snowball in his hand. He chucked the snow in Harrys face, who spluttered and slowed down, leaving Jack with an open win. Landing gently on the ground he stared, amused as Harry stumbled than fell into the grass.  
“That’s cheating!” Harry grumbled as he stood up, brushing the last of the snow off his shoulder.  
“Were you expecting anything else?”  
Harry glared dangerously, causing Jack smugness to diminish somewhat.  
“You do not want to make Halloween mad.” Harry growled. Jacks eyes flickered to new newly formed Pumpkin in his hand. A rotten one.  
“Harry, calm down. If you don’t you might force me to do something I’ll find hilarious.” A full out War between the two of them was about to break out when Harry noticed a mess of blue hair poking his head out of the door of the borrow.  
“Teddy! Come meet Jack Frost.” Beside him he felt Jack tense up.  
A smile spread out over Teddy’s face as he quickly ran over to them.  
“Are you Jack Frost?” Teddy was looking straight at Jack, who looked to be in shock.   
“You can see me…” It was then when Jack beamed, he sprung up suddenly, doing a dance on the garden.  
He swooped down and pulled Teddy in a tight embrace, dropping his staff. Joyful tears sprung in the corners of his eyes. Teddy, a bit confused, patted Jack gingerly on the back. He let go Teddy, only to give him a wicked smile.  
“Do you want to have some fun, Teddy?” Teddy nodded eagerly.  
“Oh, we’re going to need more people than this.” Harry said cheerfully. “I’ll go get the others.”  
O.o  
“Okay team! We are call Team Hallow and our enemy are Team Frost. Everyone got that so far?” Ron, Charley, Fleur and Ginny nodded.   
“They have a distinct advantage. They have the winter Spirit, and it is snowing. But, we have something they don’t!” Harry said proudly.   
“And what’s that?” Ginny asked, feeling like she would soon regret it.  
“Pumpkins.” Every one groaned at that.  
“Harry, we can’t conjure up Pumpkins like you! I think we’ll stick to the snow thanks.”  
“Fine, I’ll use the Pumpkins. You can use the snow. But you’re forgetting they have two master snow-ballers over there! Don’t forget Teddy, Gorge has been training him,” Harry said grimly.  
Harry opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off when a snowball hit the back of his head.   
“Times up Pumpkin head.” Jack said smugly, leaning against his staff. Teddy, Rose and Gorge were giggling behind Jack. Harry sent jack a playful glare.  
“I’ll show you Pumpkins!” A small Pumpkin formed in his hand, chucking it at Jack. He dodge, causing the pumpkin to hit and splatter over Gorges shirt.   
Then all hell broke loose. Snowballs and Pumpkins were flying everywhere. Harry made sure that the pumpkins he made had soft skin, so they didn’t cause permanent damage if one accidently hit someone’s head. Jack had figured out this neat trick of freezing the pumpkins Harry chucked at him, sending it back to him. Harry yelped as he ducked out of the way. Seeing Gorge sneaking up behind Fleur, snowball in hand, Harry sent three pumpkins his way. They all hit the target of his shoulder and went stumbling to the left, right into Ron. They fell onto the ground, shoving snow into each others faces.  
“Let’s get him!” Rose shouted with delight and She, Teddy and Jack advanced on him.  
“Oh bugger.” Harry said, dodging out of the way of most of their snowballs. When he thought he was in the clear he felt a little body tackle his legs. Not expecting the new weight Harry fell to the ground.  
“Hold ‘im down kids!” Teddy laid down on his legs while Rose tried her best to hold down his arms.  
Jack loomed above him, holding the mother of all snowballs. It was bigger than Jacks head and Harry knew exactly what he was going to do with it.  
“Jack, think about this! No, don’t.” Jack just gave him a wicked smile before raising the snowball higher.  
“Help!” He looked over to his teammates, who just stared on laughing. “You traitors!”  
“Any last words Harry?” Jack smirked at him. Harry scolded. ”Didn’t think so.”  
Jack let the snowball fall.  
Everyone but Harry and Jack were exhausted and freezing. Their clothes were annoyingly wet, though. Not to mention covered in pumpkin seeds. But with a quick wave of a wand from Hermione, they were dry, clean and happily chatting about the snowball/pumpkin fight. Rose and Teddy followed Jack around like loyal puppies for the rest of the day. Rose even fell asleep in Jacks lap, which he was insanely happy about. It was horrible to Jack that no-one believed in him. At least Harry had his family, and now Jack had them too. He hoped that would help with the pain somehow.  
O.o   
Harry and Jack left, waving their goodbyes as they walked towards the town together.  
“Thanks.” Jack mumbled.   
“What?” Harry asked, snapping out of his thoughts.  
“Thank you.” Jack said more clearly. Harry looked at him puzzled.  
“For what?”   
“For making them believe. It’s just…”  
“I know. Don’t thank me, It’s what friends do.” They stayed in companionable silence for the rest of the night.  
O.o  
Ever since that day, it was difficult to find them away from each other. Every week the pair would visit Teddy and Rose, playing different games and having fun. When they weren’t visiting their favourite kids, they were usually causing mischief. Jack thought it was quite amazing what Harry could do. Basically conjure anything to do with All Hallows Eve. Harry could even turn invisible, so not even Jack could see him.  
At night, they would usually find a nice place to lay down and watch the stars and Moon.   
“Has the Man in the Moon talked to you after he made you a Spirit?” Jack asked as they stared up at the Moon.  
“No. I don’t suppose he has to you?”  
“Nah.” Jack shook his head.


	5. Christmas Jumpers

It was year 2000 and Christmas was just around the corner. It was Jacks job to bring snow and joy to the children of the world. Harry wasn’t with him this time, Halloween had just passed and one of the ghosts had escaped Harry. It was currently causing havoc all over the world and it was Harry’s job to track it, putting it back into the afterlife. Harry had said it would be hard to bring the Spirit back to the Afterlife, as the barrier was strong for another year. Jack pouted as he sat on a frosty rooftop. Was it always this boring when Harry wasn’t around?   
“Come on! You were here before him. What’s stopping me from having fun?” He told himself. Standing up, he pushed away from the roof, rocketing into the sky.  
O.o  
“You want me to what?” Harry asked is disbelief.   
“It’s nothing bad, just a little fun!”  
“Let me get this straight. You want me to come to the North Pole with you to break into Santa’s Workshop?”  
“Come on Harry! You know you want to.”   
“Don’t you dare use puppy eyes on me Jack Frost.”  
“Please?”  
“Jack, it is three days ‘till Christmas. Don’t you think it would be well guarded?”  
“Exactly! Three days Harry, the busiest time of the year for North, he’ll need all the hands he can get.”  
“Why in the world would I want to go to the North Pole?”  
“Because I’ll be there.” Jack sent Harry a winning smile before shooting up into the sky.  
Harry glared up at the rapidly disappearing Winter Spirit.  
“Damn it Jack!” Harry yelled, shooting after him.  
O.o  
“IncrediblyHandsomeSnowman to Pumpkinator, do you read me?”  
“I’m right next to you, Jack.”  
“Do you read me?”  
“Fine, sure.”  
“What was that Pumpkinator?”  
“…I hear you Snowman.”  
“IncrediblyHandsomeSnowman.”  
“No.”  
“You know you want to.”  
“Can we just focus on the fact that were about to break into Santa’s Workshop?” Harry said, exasperated and slightly amused with Jacks antics.   
“Stop being so tense. I do this almost every year.”  
“Is that why you always disappear? How come you’ve never invited me before?”   
“Because you’re with family. Plus, I had a long hard think about it and decided to get you on the naughty list this year.”  
“Ok, two problems with that. One, knowing you it was probably an impulse decision. Two, I think I made it on there when you made me steal the Easter Bunny’s Boomerang.”  
“It was your deal!”  
“And you cheated!”  
“No one said anything about distracting each other. It was whoever reached there first, no other rules.”  
“I thought it didn’t need to be said.”  
“Well that didn’t work out did it?”  
“You’re exasperating!”  
“I’m adorable.”   
Harry rolled his eyes, turning away from jack to scan the snowy Landscape.  
“Well, I can’t see anything. So, unless you took me here to argue with you, I don’t see the point.” Harry said.  
“North hides his place well, how else do you think they keep it secret? You see that cliff in front of us.” Jack pointed in front of them. The cliff was huge, a block of ice towering above them. “That’s where he set up shop.”  
“Ok, so how are we getting in?” Harry asked. The ice seemed pretty impenetrable to him.  
“We’re going to have to find the sleigh ramp…”  
O.o  
The duo hadn’t gotten past the reindeer pen when a bunch of Yetis and Elves spotted them.  
“Run!” Jack yelped. They were being charged by about five Yetis. Harry hadn’t had much time to count.  
“Nope. I’m flying!” He grabbed Jack by the back of his shirt. Harry grunted as he heaved Jack into the air and let go. They flew down the tunnel, side by side, basking in the thrill of a chase. The angry grunting of the Yetis only fuelled the laughter that bubbled up inside their chests.   
Risking a glance behind him, he saw the Yetis were still charging. Well, more like sliding. It looked like they had slipped on the steep ice, sending them shooting down after them.  
“Yes!” Jack cheered as they neared the exit. The small light was growing rapidly bigger; they were so close to escaping the Yetis it was laughable. They shot out of the tunnel, only having a second to realise they had forgotten about the ramp.   
Harry’s eyes widened, putting on the breaks. Harry and Jack skidded to a halt, stopping themselves moments before crashing.  
Harrys let out a laugh. “That was cl-“ Harrys back connected with something moving, furry and fast. Jack and Harry were flung up into the air with the Yetis, who were yelling in terror. Before Harrys and Jack could fly away, one of the Yetis seemed to snap out of his panic and grab onto them. Now the panic settled in. Without being able to fly away, they were rapidly approaching the ground. Harrys and Jack joined in with the Yetis, yelling with fright.   
They landed hard, knocking the breath out of Harrys. At least a Yeti hadn’t landed on him, Harry thought to himself, that would have hurt.  
They all let out simultaneous groans. Harry had never been so thankful for snow before, it had soften the landing somewhat. They all just laid there for a while, unable to move even if they wanted to. The Yeti who grabbed Harry and Jack stood up, swaying. He picked them up again, giving them disapproving glares.  
“It was his idea.” Harry pointed meekly to Jack who grumbled indignantly. The Yeti seemed to glower more when his full attention was on Jack.  
“Phil, right?” Jack said, smiling cheekily up at the Yeti.  
One of the other Yetis slowly got up, holding a snow globe.  
How did he get that? Harry wondered  
Shaking it, he turned it blue, and broke it on the ground. Harry’s eyes widened when a blue portal appeared. He remembered Jack telling about them. Magic portals, weren’t they?  
Phil grunted something before chucking Harry, then Jack in.  
Harry landed on Snow again. Were they still in the North Pole? Harry’s thoughts were interrupted when Jack landed on top of him. Losing all the air in his lungs for the second Time in five minutes took its toll on Harry. Shoving Jack off, he rolled into a foetal position.  
“Dear Merlin, you have bony elbows.” Harry grunted.   
“Sorry.” Jack mumbled back. Rolling on his back, the two glanced at each other before bursting out in laughter.  
“That was brilliant!” Harry said through his laughter.  
“I told you would like it.” Jack said smugly.  
“So,” Harry chuckled. “Where are we?”  
“Antarctica,” Jack grinned, “They always send me here.”  
They stayed like that, chuckling to the sky. Whenever they would catch each other’s eyes, they would grin at each other before returning to look at the stormy sky.  
O.o  
Christmas day was finally here, houses everywhere where decorated, people were merrily singing Christmas songs and presents were being exchanged. Jack and Harry were at the Burrow, celebrating Christmas with their family. By now, everyone in the Weasley household could see Jack. When Mrs Weasley had first started to see him, she fussed over him, proclaiming he was too thin to be healthy. Although Spirits didn’t need to eat, nothing would stop Mrs Weasley on her quest to fatten Jack up.  
“Ok everyone, time to unwrap the presents.” Mrs Weasley called to everyone. They all came inside, still breathless and laughing from another snow ball fight. They all sat around the tree as Harry and Ron handed out the gifts. When they were finished Harry sat himself down next to a cheerful Jack, handing him a present.  
Jack stared at it like it was a bomb, before taking it slowly.  
“You got a present for me?” Jack said in wonder, turning it over to check the tag.  
“Just a little something.” Harry said, turning to his own gifts, tearing away the paper.  
Jack cautiously started to open the paper, careful not to rip it. Something blue and soft fell out. Jack stared at it curiously, holding the material in front of him. It was a blue jumper with little snowflake patterns covering the hood and arms.  
He looked back at Harry who was setting some sort of dessert next to him, chuckling.  
“I’ve never had a Christmas present before.” Jack said, eyes wide with surprise.  
Harry looked up at Jack, smiling.  
“It reminded me of you. Do you like it?”  
“Harry, I…” Jack looked back at the Jumper, lost for words.  
“I know Jack.” Harrys said, nudging Jacks shoulder with his own. Jack beamed at him, slipping on the Jumper with ease.  
“I’m glad Hermione got the right size. She had to go in and get it for me, seeing as I’m, well, invisible.”  
“Thank you.” Jack said, still dumbfounded.  
“Don’t mention it. It’s another one of those things friends do for each other.” Harry said cheerfully, un-wrapping the last of his presents.  
Jack continued to stare at Harry. Why did it feel like his heart jumped when Harry said that last sentence? He passed it off as shock.


	6. The Big Four

“Leave me alone Harry.” Today hadn’t been a very good day for Jack Frost. Harry and Jack had been playing in the snow with the children. Of course, they couldn’t see them, leaving Jack in a Sour and upset mood.   
“I know it’s hard for you Jack! I understand-“ Jack cut off Harry, taking a threatening step forward.  
“Don’t you dare say you understand Harry. I’ve been here for three hundred years; you’ve only been here for what, nineteen?” Jack growled.  
“You have Teddy and Rose.” Harry said, not backing down from Jack.  
“No Harry, you have them.”  
“They consider you as family!”  
“They’re not my family, they’re yours! They only believe in me because you told them too.” All Jacks emotions were leaking out, causing a blizzard to swirl around the two.  
“You’re my friend Jack; I’m only trying to help you.”  
“I have no friends.” Jack spat. The anger and loneliness was dulled somewhat at Harry’s crestfallen face. Guilt washed away the anger, leaving Jack feeling hollow without a vice. Jack could see the hurt in Harrys eyes, what had he done? “Harry, I didn’t-“  
“…fine. Have it your way. I’ll leave, but don’t expect me to come back!” Jack watched numbly as Harry shot into the sky. The blizzard slowed to an end as Jack kept staring into the sky where Harry had left him. Bunnymund had been right; he made a mess where ever he went. And what a mess this one was. Because of Jack, Harry had left in a flurry of anger and hurt. He just stared at the sky, wishing he could take back what was said.  
O.o  
Sand man was annoyed, very much so. While the other Guardians were arguing, they hadn’t noticed Man in Moons light shining on them. Coming up with a last resort he floated over to an elf licking the insides of a cup. Grabbing the creature by its hat, he shook it roughly. The bell got everyone’s attention, turning to look at him with confusion. With no patients left, he pointed to his head, then the moon. North proceeded to annoy him further.  
“Ah! Man in Moon. Sandy, why didn’t you say something!” Turning back to the Moon, he spoke in a boisterous voice. “It’s been a long time, old friend. What is big news?”  
Man in Moon shined his light down upon them. A shadow was shown, one with broad shoulders, a crooked nose and hair slicked back, they all gasped.  
“It was Pitch…” Bunny said, taking a step back.  
“Manny, what must we do?” North asked.  
Everyone stared down, excited as a crystal rose from the floor, sparkling brightly.  
“Guys, you know what this means?” Tooth said nervously.  
“He is choosing another Guardian.” North said, looking excited from the prospect.  
“What! Why?”  
“Must be big deal, Manny thinks we need help.” North said shrugging.  
“Since when do we need help?” Bunny laughed disbelievingly.   
“I wonder who it’s going to be.”  
The Crystal rose higher, shining brightly in the moons light.   
“Please not the Groundhog. Please not the groundhog.” Bunny chanted to himself.  
Their eyes widened when not only one was chosen, but two.  
“Jack Frost and Harry Hallows?!” Bunny shouted, arms falling to his sides.  
“As long as Jack takes care of the children.” Tooth nodded, giggling.  
“Them?! They don’t care about children! All Jack does is freeze water pipes and messes with my egg hunts. Harry follows him around like a loyal puppy! He stole my good Boomerang! They’re irresponsible, selfish, pocket snatcher-“  
“Guardians.” North cut off Bunny, with an approving nod.  
“They are many thing but Guardians ain’t one of ‘em. If this even allowed? Two of the world most annoying Spirits to be Guardians?”  
“It’s not our choice, Bunny. It’s Mannys.” North said, putting an end to the matter. “Now, Bunny. You have to get them to come.”  
“Why me?” Bunny said distressed.  
“They know you best. Also, you get to stuff them into sack.”  
O.o  
“If there is something I’m doing wrong, can you…can you just tell me what it is? I’ve tried everything and I can’t make them see me.” Jack said, looking expectantly at the Moon. Jack felt frustration rise in him when Man in Moon didn’t answer. “You put me here. The least you can do is tell me why?”  
The Moon stayed silent as ever. Jack let out a sigh, pushing off the roof of Jamie’s house. He landed on power lines, freezing them when they came into contact with his skin.  
Today had not been a good day for him. Harry still hadn’t returned and Jack had started to wonder whether he would see the Halloween spirit again.  
Jack was brought out of his thoughts when a golden light shot past him.  
“Right on time Sand Man.” Jack chuckled. Touching the sand as it flew past, a dolphin leapt out dancing around his head before disappearing. The sand was slowly drifting off, and now in a much more cheerful mood, he followed it at a leisurely pace.  
Then, a lighting fast blur flew past his, making him jump.  
“What the..?” Jacks jumped across to the next chimney. He was sure it went past here, so where had it…  
The blur darted past him again. Chasing it he found himself in an alleyway. He lifting his staff, ready to defend himself.  
“Hello mate.”  
Jack spun around, relaxing when he recognised the figure before him. He leaned on his staff lazily.  
“Been a long time. Blizzard of 68 I believe. Easer Sunday, wasn’t it?”  
“Bunny! You’re still not mad about that, are ya?”  
“Yes. Where is the Pumpkin Muncher? Left ya, has he?”  
“We had a falling out.”  
“Too bad. Would have made my job a lot easier.”  
“What job-“ Jack was cut off as he was grabbed from behind. “What the?” Was all he managed to say before he was shoved roughly into a sack.  
O.o  
Harry looked down at the streets of London from his vantage point of Big Ben. It was midnight, according to the clock, and he had been sitting there for quite some time. It was a nice place to sit, quiet too until the clock chimed. He ran a hand through his hair, effectively messing it up even more than it was a moment ago. After the spat with Jack, Harry had wondered the streets of London, before finding this nifty little place. Harry leaned back, gazing up at the stars and Moon.  
“I know you’re not going to answer, you never do. But I do need a favour.” Harry said. He did not expect Man in Moon to talk back, he wasn’t wrong. “Could you give Jack some answers? He was right; he has been here longer than me. Much longer. He just wants to know why he is here; he has been looking for that answer for three hundred years. I’ve tried to help, I really have! But I think I might have messed up.” Man in Moon stayed silent as he usually did. Harry sighed, there was no use to getting angry, it’s not like Man in Moon would do anything.   
He wondered what Jack was doing. No doubt he was in some kind of trouble, he always was. Harry chuckled, imagining him running from the Sand Man. Harry had no doubt Sand Man would win. Harrys smile fell, remembering their previous fight. He really shouldn’t have stormed off like that, leaving Jack more alone then he was feeling already.   
Harry rested his head on the cold metal that was Big Ben. He could stay here all night. That would be nice. Harry adjusted himself, sliding into a more comfortable position.  
A movement in the corner of his eye. He sprung up, floating in case he had to make a quick escape. He slowly moved towards where he had seen the blur, muscles tense, ready to spring into battle.  
“You owe me a Boomerang.” Said a familiar voice behind him. Harry visibly relaxed, lowering himself back to the clock.  
“Don’t do that Bunny! You do realize I was in a War.” He turned around and sure enough, there was Bunny, leaning against the clock.  
“That’s why I had to lower your guard first.” Alarm bells went off in his head. He heard a quiet muffle behind him and was about to bolt when a big, hairy hand shot out and grabbed him. Before he knew what was happening he was shoved into a bag. Only there was another person in it.  
“Harry is that you?” The familiar voice of Jack Frost asked. It was terribly cramped in the bag, as you would expect it to be. They were tangled together; Harry wasn’t even sure whose Limbs belonged to whom.   
“Yeah. You alright?” Harry asked. It felt rather nice to be this close to Jack. Harry stored that information away to be look at later…or never.  
“Well, considering I’ve been kidnapped, quite good.” Jack said. Harry chuckled, adjusting himself the best he could suspended in a sack with another person.  
Then they were flying through the air with no warning, and Harry realized that someone had thrown them. Hitting the ground hard, Harry groaned in pain when Jacks knee dug into his stomach. Jack muttered an apology before struggling out of the sack.  
“Wow. You gotta be kidding me.”  
“What? Where are we?” Harry poked his head out of the sack, stunned to see the big four standing in front of them. They couldn’t have done anything that bad, could they?  
“There they are, Jack Frost and Harry Hallow!” North boomed, spreading his arms wide. Hands that grabbed Harry earlier lifted them up to set them on their feet.  
“I hope the Yetis treated you well?”  
“Oh yeah. I love being shoved in a sack and tossed through a magic portal.” Harry seemed to be the only one there who registered the sarcasm.  
“Good. That was my idea! And you Harry?”  
“Well, they sure can sneak up on someone.” He said, hands deep in his genes pockets.  
“I have trained them well.” North said proudly. “You two know Bunny, obviously.”  
“Obviously.” Jack muttered.  
“The tooth fairy.”  
“Hi Jack. I’ve heard a lot about you. And your teeth!” She glanced over at Harry with a small wince. Attention back on Jack, she stuck her hands in his mouth. “Are they really as white as they say they are? Oh, they really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow!”  
“What’s wrong with my teeth?” Harry said defensively. The wince hadn’t gone past him.  
“Nothing’s wrong with yours, it’s just that the candy you give the children rots away their teeth.” Tooth said, wincing again with the memories of past Halloweens.  
“Well, sorry for giving them joy.” Harry grumbled. Tooth flew back over to North, a bit nervous.  
“And Sand Man.” North continued. When he didn’t wake, however, North tapped him a few times. “Sandy…Sandy…wake up!”  
Sand Man jolted awake, giving a small wave.  
“Hey, anyone want to tell us why we’re here?” Jack said, annoyed at the events. Sandy started to explain but neither Harry nor Jack could understand the fast paced pictures.  
“That’s not really helping, but thanks little man. We must have done something really bad to get you for together. Am I on the naughty list?”  
“Ha! On Naughty list? You hold record. Harry, Jack has corrupted you! You were good kid. But we are wiping clean the slate.”  
“How come?” That was just what Harry was thinking. There really was no reason to, unless they wanted something form them.  
“How come? I tell you ‘how come’. ‘Cause now, you are both Guardians!”  
One thing Harry had not been expecting was the flames and music. Both he and Jack backed up as they marched closer, getting louder and louder. Sharing a look, understanding passed between the two. Slamming his staff onto the ground, cold air blasted out around the pair, putting an end to the flames and music.  
“Why do you assume we want to be Guardians?” Harrys asked, stepping forward.  
Everything was silent for a moment until the boisterous laugher of North rang out across the room.  
“Of course you do. Music!”  
“No music! This is all very flattering but you don’t want me. You’re all ‘Hard Work’ and ‘Dead Lines’ and I’m snowballs and fun time. I’m not a Guardian” Jack said, sitting on the edge of a desk.  
“And I can’t really fight anyway.” Harry shrugged. “What am I going to do? Lob Pumpkins at the enemy?”  
“That’s exactly what I said!” Bunny laughed.  
“I don’t think you understand what we do here.” Tooth said, flying forward to a large globe. “Each of those lights is a child.”  
“A child who believes.” North said, now standing next to them. “Good or bad, naughty or nice, it is our job to protect them.”  
Jacks grunting noises drew Harry’s attention. What he saw made he break out in laughter. Tooth was rummaging through Jacks mouth again, admiring his teeth.  
“Hand out of mouth, Tooth.” North ordered.  
“Sorry. They’re beautiful.”  
She flew away again leaving an annoyed Jack and giggling Harry.  
“Ok, no more wishy washy. Pitch is out there doing who knows what!”  
“You mean the boogie man?”   
“The boogie man is real?” Harry asked. He really shouldn’t be surprised. After all, he was standing in front of the Tooth Fairy, Easter bunny and Santa Clause.  
“Yes. When Pitch threatens us, he threatens them as well!”  
“All the more reason to pick someone more qualified.” Jack waved him off. Jack may be disinterested, but Harry’s interest had spiked. Children were in actual danger?  
“Pick? You think we pick? No, you two were chosen, like we all were by Man in Moon.” North said, gesturing to the sky.  
“Man in Moon?” Jack whispered. Harry could practically see the cogs working in his brain. For Harry, he was definitely interested now. “He talks to you?”  
“You see, you cannot say no, it is destiny.”  
“After three hundred years this is his answer? To spend eternity like you guys, cooped up thinking of more ways to bribe kids? No, that’s not for me! No offense.”  
“How is that not offensive?” Bunny stepped in. Harry rolled his eyes; this was going to end up with someone sporting a black eye. “You know what I think? I think we just dodged a bullet! I mean, what do these clowns know about bringing joy to children?”  
The sudden spike of anger in Harry was unexpected, but he had needed a vice for the stress from the past twenty four hours. So, really, who could blame him for his actions?  
“Tell me Cottontail,” Harry growled, stepping into Bunny’s personal space. “How is letting a little girl see her family again not bringing joy to a child?” Bunny’s eyes widened with shock.  
“Well, how about him!” He pointed towards Jack. The winter Spirit walked over to them, putting a comforting hand on Harrys shoulder. Relaxing, he stepped back, allowing Jack to take over the argument while he gathered himself.  
“Have you ever heard of a Snow Day? I know it’s no hard-boiled egg, but Kids like what I do.” Seemingly recovered from the bomb Harry had dropped, he glared at Jack.  
“But nobody believes in you. You’re invisible mate.”  
“Bunny, enough!” Tooth scolded Bunny.  
“No, the Kangaroos right.” Jack said. Harry snorted a bit, making Jack grin in triumph.  
“The what? What did you call me? I’m not a Kangaroo, mate.”  
“Oh, and this whole time I thought you were. If you’re not a Kangaroo, what are you?” Jack said, challenging the Bunny.  
“I’m a Bunny. The Easter Bunny. People believe in me.”  
“People believe in me, too.” Jack growled.  
“Oh yeah, who?”  
Glancing over at Harry, he spoke the words that warmed his heart.  
“My family.”


	7. Lost Memories and Black Sand

The two Spirits backed up as the intimidating Guardian stalked towards them.  
“Who are you?” He asked them, their backs were pressed firmly to the door behind them. The giant Guardian loomed over them. He leaned in close, giving them inquisitive looks.  
“What are your centres?”  
“Centres?” Jack said, sharing a confused glance with Harry.  
“If Man in Moon chose you two, you must have something very special inside.” North pulled back, giving the two younger spirits some space to breathe. Looking at them thoughtfully, he walked over two a shelf. The said shelf was stacked full of little nick-nacks, such as little toy soldiers and beautifully crafted cups. North pulled a Matryoshka doll, one that looked strangely like him. Harry had never seen one outside of pictures Hermione had shown him, she had always wanted one. When he asked why she spouted things like ‘historical’ and ‘fineness’ that made Harrys eyes glaze over.  
“This is how you see me, no? Very big and intimidating.” Harry could agree on that. The dolls fierce expression would strike fear in many a foe. Harry’s eyes widened. Santa had swords? “But if you get to know me a little…”  
They walked forward, muscles loosening as they settled their nerves. He handed the doll to Jack, who twisted it open. Peering over Jacks shoulder he saw the doll underneath, a smile on its wooden face.  
“You’re downright jolly?” Jack smirked up at North.  
“Not just jolly!” Jack twisted the next one open. “I am also mysterious.” Harry couldn’t hold back the chuckle at the painted figure. It had a cape, pulled up to hide half of its face. It looked absolutely ridiculous.  
“And fearless.” North said as Jack opened the next one. “And caring. And at my centre…”  
Jack opened the last one, dropping it in North’s palm. It was a little baby. At this Harry was completely confused, and as it seemed, Jack was too.  
“There is a tiny wooden baby.” Jack said.  
“Look closer.” North instructed.  
“You have big eyes.” Harry said. North beamed.  
“Yes, big eyes!” He grabbed their shoulders. “Because they are full of wonder. That is my centre, it what I was born with. Eyes that could only see the wonder in everything! Eyes that see lights in the trees, and magic in the air. This wonder is what I put in the world! And what I protect in children. It’s what makes me a Guardian.”  
They followed North outside his office, for the first time taking in the colours and excitement surrounding them.  
“It is my centre. What is yours?” Jack sighed and bowed his head.  
“I don’t know.”   
Harry gave a shake of his head, the thought suddenly striking him. What was his centre? He didn’t have anything special about him.  
Grapping Harry’s hand North put it on top of Jacks, who was holding the little wooden baby. Closing their hands around each other’s, North smiled down at them both. Harry would never admit that their hands stayed like that longer than necessary.  
The bounding of Bunny’s feet broke them out of the trance; they pulled their hands away sharply.  
“We have a problem, mate. Trouble at the Tooth Palace.”   
O.o  
Harry laughed in joy as the sleigh and their occupants shot into the sky. Jack at Harry glanced at each other, smirking at the memories of the tunnel.  
“Hey Bunny.” Harry heard Jack say behind him. Giving a roll of his eyes, he knew Jack too well to not know what was about to happen. “Check out this view! Whoa!”  
Harry tried hard not to start laughing at Bunny’s reaction. Tuning the two out, he just enjoyed the wind hitting his face.  
O.o  
When the entered the realm of the Tooth Palace, the sight their eyes met was unexpected, to say the least. Black stallions littered the sky, shooting over them in a sea of black.   
“They’re taking the fairies” Jack shouted. Spotting one that had yet to be caught, he sprang into to air, catching the little fairy.  
It climbed into Jacks jumper pocket, shielding itself from the nightmares. The sleigh ducked and weaved, dodging the buildings while chasing numerous black horses.   
“Here, take these!” North shouted, shoving the reins in Jacks hands. He all too enthusiastically took them, giving them a crack, speeding them up. Harry dully notice North take out his sword, swinging them maniacally. What he was focusing on was much more deadly. Jacks steering.  
“Look out!” Harry yelped, throwing his arms out to grip the red leather that was steering the Reindeer. Giving a yank, they barely missed a spiralling tower.  
“Are you trying to get us killed?” Harry shouted, too scared to let go of the reins.  
“I don’t know how to drive this thing! Stop pretending you do!” Jack shouted back happily. Harry stared at him. Was he mad?  
Their banter was interrupted by North yelling at them. Looking up they had barely enough time to swerve away from a building, landing roughly on a platform.  
“Tooth, are you alright?” North yelled worriedly. He scrambled out of the sleigh, everyone close behind.  
Tooth flew back and forth, like she couldn’t decide what to do  
“They took the fairies, a…and the teeth! All of them…”  
The Guardians climbed up the building, comforting tooth. Harry and Jack remained on the platform they landed on. Baby Tooth poked her head out behind Jack, flying over to Tooth. Harry smiled as Tooth greeted the little fairy, he recognised that spark of hope in her eyes.  
“I must say, this is very, very exciting.” Harry jumped, spinning around to pinpoint where that terrifying voice had come from. It seemed everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The warning bells in his head were going off, he was not one to ignore his instincts. They had saved his life too many times when he was alive to be ignored. Slipping into a defensive stance, he stood slightly in front of Jack.  
“The big four…all in one place,” The voice said again. Where is he? Harry thought, craning his neck to see all the crooks of the palace. “I’m a little star struck.”  
The voice seemed to narrow out, until he could follow it. A man was standing over the Guardians. He was impossibly slim, with black slicked hair. His skin was pale and hollow, which contrasted the blackness around his eyes.  
“Did you like my show at the Pole, North? Got you all together.”  
North stomped his foot in frustration. Who was this Spirit? Harry asked himself. It couldn’t by the Boogieman could it? Harry frowned. He always imagined him like a blob of green slime, like the cartoons Dudley used to watch. But then again, if Harry walked around like looking like what people believed him to, he would be walking around with a pumpkin for a head.  
“Pitch! Have thirty seconds to return my fairy’s or-!”  
“Or what? You’ll stick a quarter under my pillow.” Pitch taunted.  
“Why are you doing this?” North glared, asking Pitch.  
“Maybe I want what you have.” He said, returning the glare, “To be believed in. Maybe I’m tired of hiding under beds!”  
“Maybe that where you belong!” Bunny growled, stepping forward.  
Harry jumped, where had Pitch gone? He seemed to have melted into the ground.  
“Go suck an egg, rabbit.” Just as quickly he had appeared, he was gone again. “Hang on, is that Jack Frost and Harry Hallows?”  
Spinning around, Harry snarled, finding him behind them.  
“Ever the soldier, Harry. I’ll let you know I have your teeth. Rather amusing memories, aren’t they There is no need to mess with your head, it’s messed up enough as it is.” Harry shuddered, his focus dropping somewhat. “Since when were you all chummy?”  
“We’re not.” Jack said cautiously, aware of the reaction Harry had.  
“Oh, good. A neutral party. Then, I’m going to ignore you, but you must be used to that…” If Harry wasn’t in a shell-shocked state, he would have noticed the look on Jacks face.  
“Pitch, you shadow sneakin’ ratbag! Come here!” Bunny roared, swiping at the place he had disappeared from.  
Tooth’s war cry snapped Harry out of his brooding. He looked up to see her be cut off by a huge black mare. Much bigger than the ones that took the fairies, it was the size of an actual horse.  
“Whoa!” Pitch yelled, chuckling. “Easy girl, easy. Look familiar Sandman? Took me a while to perfect this little trick. Turning dreams into nightmares…don’t be nervous; it only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know.”  
“Fear, of you?” Bunny laughed harshly. “No one’s been afraid of you since the dark ages!”  
Harry looked over at Jack, who was staring at Pitch with an un-readable expression.   
“Jack, we need to do something!” Harry whispered.  
“This isn’t our fight.” Jack breathed out, not taking his eyes off of Pitch. Harry looked back at the Boogieman, he was bragging about his greatness, blaming his downfall on the Guardians. Harry rolled his eyes, typical speech for someone who wants to take over the world.   
“It doesn’t matter if it’s not our fight. If I can save someone I’ll do whatever I can.”  
“So what, are you going to drop everything and join the Guardians?” Jack finally took his eyes off of Pitched, giving Harry a glare.  
“Maybe I might.” Harry said giving Jack a levelled stare. They were broken out of their battle of wills by Pitch’s foreboding words.  
“Oh, it’s happening already.” Harry’s eyes widened. The tooth palace was falling apart around them.  
“What’s happening?” Jack asked.  
“Children are waking up and realising the Tooth Fairy never came. It’s such a little thing, but to a child…”  
“What’s going on?” Jack said, looking around at the falling palace.  
“They…they don’t believe in me anymore…”  
“Didn’t they ever tell you boys? It’s great being a Guardian. But there’s a catch. If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect: wonder, hopes and dreams, it all goes away.”  
Looking at the Guardians, they look shock, staring in horror as they saw what was happening to Tooth.  
“And little by little, so do they.” Jack chuckled. “No Christmas, or Easter or little Fairies that come in the night.” At this Pitch looked Harry straight in the eye. “Not even a Spirit that opens the gate to the afterlife.”


	8. The Great Tooth Hunt

“It’s your turn not to be believed in.” Pitch snarled.  
Quick as a flash, bunny threw his boomerang, starting the chase. Jack grabbed Harry, dragging him into the air. Harry was still in a state of shock. He felt sick at the prospect of Pitch seeing his memories.   
“Come on, Harry!” Jack was still dragging him. Snapping out of his stupor, he joined the chase. Jack let go of his arm as they shot down to follow the Guardians. Landing heavily, just in time to hear North.  
“He’s gone…”  
Harry felt his anger rising. Pitch would not get away with this. His memories, ones that held his terrible childhood were supposed to stay secret. No one would ever know of it. Or so was the plan. Jack had walked off to talk to Tooth, and for a split second something else flared up. Shouldn’t he be the one being comforted? Harry thought bitterly. Just then Harry noticed his hands were shaking, shoving them deep into his pockets to hide them from view he lifted his head, joining the rest of the Spirits. Walking to stand besides North, Sandy and Bunny he was just in time to catch what North was saying.  
“You should have seen Bunny!”  
“Hey, I told you never to mention that!” Bunny whispered hurriedly. But Harrys attention was on Jack, who looked so utterly lost that Harry had the strange sensation to hug the winter spirit.  
Harry barely heard Jacks mutterings.  
“The night at the pond…I just assumed I…” Harry walked over to the ponds edge and floated next to Jack. ”Are you saying I had a life? Before…with a home, and a family?!” Jack laughed. He turned to Harry, grabbing his shoulders.  
“If I find my family I’ll know why I’m here!” Turning back to Tooth, he shot up to meet her level. “You have to show me!”  
Tooths words stopped Jack, making him turn around as he was about to shoot off.  
“I can’t Jack, Pitch has them.” She said sadly. Jack however was un-deterred.  
“Then we’ll make him give them back!”  
Tooth gasped.  
“Oh no…” She moaned. Her feathers were falling out, slowly falling to the ground. Harry watched in horror, as well as the Guardians. “The children…we’re too late.”  
“No! No such thing as too late!” North bellowed. Pacing, he rested his swords on his shoulders. North’s furious expression turned to excitement, at which they all leaned forward to hear the brilliant plan. “Wait. Wait wait wait wait, wait. Idea!” He shouted in triumph, almost taking Bunny’s head off with his sword as he swung them around wildly. ”We will collect the teeth!”  
“What?” Tooth gaped.  
“We get teeth, children keep believing in you.” North pointed at Tooth.  
“We’re talking seven continents, millions of kids…!”  
“Pfft. You know how many toys I deliver in one night?”  
“And how many eggs I hide in one day?”  
“How about how many Spirits I track in 12 hours?” Hey, Harry liked to be appreciated too, you know.  
Tooths face lit up, actually thinking that this plan could work.   
“And Jack, if you help us we will get you your memories.” Jacks smirk was contagious and soon everyone was excited for the mission.   
O.o  
They were in China, flying and jumping over roof tops. A carefree laugh worked its way out of Harry as he did flips and dives, having more fun with the Guardians then he thought he could ever have.   
Harry heard North’s far off shout.   
“This is a race? This is going to be EPIC!”  
Another bark of laughter escaped Harry. If they wanted a race, they were going to get one. He smirked. You did not want to race the Spirit of Halloween at night.  
Flying into a shadow, he came out of it in a child’s room. Harry frowned as he realised that it was a lot like what Pitch had done earlier. Then again, he figured that Fear and Halloween were related quite a bit. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he went to take the tooth from the child’s pillow. He had wasted too much time already. Sticking his hand under the pillow, he didn’t notice the chill that had befallen to the room. To was used to it from his many days with Jack. He did notice, however, when his hand was suddenly surrounded by a huge, very cold block of ice. Shouting, he withdrew his hand, turning to the person who was chackling gleefully.  
“Jack!” He yelled as the weight around his hand proved too much, pulling him to the floor.  
“Too slow Harry.” He said smugly, plucking the tooth from the pillow.  
“So it’s that kind of race is it?” Harry growled. Anyone faced with him right now would probably be intimidated, but Jack was too practiced in finding the spark of amusement in his eyes that betrayed Harry.  
“Oh, and what are you going to do Pumpkin head?” Jack chuckled, turning to the window. Concentrating on the top left corner of the room, Harry’s eyes flashed. Bats flew wildly out of nowhere, knocking Jack out the window. Letting out his own chuckle, Harry pulled himself onto his feet, arm hanging down with the weight of the miniature ice-burg. He slowly grew a small pumpkin in his hand, cracking the ice. He kept it growing, even as the pain from the pressure made him think that his arm would fall off. With a loud crack, shards of ice flew across the room. Quickly as he could, he flew out the window scavenging for teeth.  
By the time Harry bumped into a Guardian, he already had around seventy teeth, give or take, in the small bag North had given them.  
“Twins!” North exclaimed quietly, kissing the teeth. Quick as a flash, Harry snatched one of the teeth, quickly disappearing into the shadows as North yelled in the protest, nearly waking up the kids he just took teeth from.  
O.o  
They stood in a row, facing tooth, holding up their hefty bags of teeth.  
“Wow, you guys collect teeth and leave gifts as fast as my fairies!” Tooth exclaimed.  
They were supposed to leave gifts? Harry panicked. He was never really educated about anything but the Sprits when he was alive. Only new the barest of things, hearing Dudley waddle down the stairs exclaiming about all the presents he was given by Santa Clause. He should ask North about that sometime…  
O.o  
Now that they had gathered some coins, they re-visited the houses they took teeth from. The gifts started small enough, but soon gained size and worth. Harry checked one house where North had left a whole Christmas tree and presents. Harry’s eyes widened. That kid must be a saint! When he ran out of coins, he started leaving gracefully carved pumpkins. Some with unicorns on them, others with trees, birds, cartoon characters, anything he could imagine he carved quickly into the fruit.  
Noticing that Jack wasn’t far behind him, he decided to leave him a gift too. He flew through the next kid’s window and started working. Five minutes later he left, flying out the window and hiding around the side of the house. Harry smirked wickedly as he heard Jack land on the window sill.  
“Hey!” Jack exclaimed. “Harry, that’s not fair!”  
Quick as lightning, Harry chucked a pumpkin at Jack, only staying to hear the satisfying squishy sound as it landed on target. Wanting to live the rest of his immortal life without some sort of disability he zoomed off, being chased by a furious Jack.  
The face on Jacks face was priceless, exactly like the one he had carved onto the six foot pumpkin, showing him throwing pumpkins mercilessly at Jack, who was worshiping him.  
Feeling a smack on the back of his head, he turned around to find Jack with a snowball in both his hands. If anyone were to look out their windows, they would see materialising snowballs and pumpkins, lobbing themselves at one another. They would have been terribly confused.  
O.o  
Soon enough they both realised that they had a job to do. And both knowing their forces should be used for good, they teamed up, pranking any Guardians they ran into. When they were done with Germany, he followed Jack as he flew off to America, going into a boys house. Landing without a sound, they saw Tooth had made it there before them. Though she wasn’t doing much, just staring wistfully at a small boy.   
“A freak sledding accident. I wonder how that happened, Jack.” She said amused. Jack smiled before turning towards a hand drawn picture on the wall.  
“Kids, huh?” He smiled, glancing at Harry.  
Putting a coin under the small child’s pillow, she went back to just looking at him.   
“This used to be my favourite part. Seeing the kids.” She sighed. “Why did I ever leave this?”  
“It’s a little different up close, huh?”   
The peaceful expression stayed on her face for a little while, before she scrunched up her face and gave a sniff.  
“Why do I smell Pumpkin?” She asked, looking at Harry and Jack. They caught each other’s eyes, bursting out in laughter. Tooth looked lost as the two boys practically rolled on the floor with their giggles.  
This is the sight North met when he squeezed into the door.  
“There you are!” He exclaimed loudly, Sandy following behind him.  
“Shh!” Tooth hushed everyone. Jack and Harry quietened down their chuckles, standing up straight to greet the two Spirits.  
“How are you feeling, Tooth?” North whispered.  
“Believed in.”   
Bunny chose that moment to appear out of his hole.  
“Oh, I see how it is, all working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place!”  
“Shh!” They hushed as one. Harry couldn’t help but give a chuckle.  
“Do you think I need help to beat a Bunny? Look here Peter Cottontail!” Jack said smugly, bringing out his bag of teeth.  
Bunny looked sceptically at the bag.  
“You call that a bag of Choppers? This is a bag of Choppers.” Bunny brought out his own bag, which was twice the size of Jacks.  
“Ladies!” Harry exclaimed stepping in, taking out his own bag. “We all knew I was going to beat you.” His bag wasn’t much bigger than Bunny’s, but it was a noticeable difference. One that he would enjoy rubbing into Bunny’s face.  
“Gentleman, Gentleman. This is about Tooth!” North said, pushing them away from each other, “It’s not a competition! But if it was, I’d win!” He yelled, dropping his enormous bag in front of them. He went to celebrate, the rest of the male spirits, besides Sandy, looked on sourly.


	9. And Darkness Rained Upon Them

They didn’t notice as the child stirred from his bed. Nor did they notice when he reached for the flashlight. They all however, jumped to attention when the light landed on them.  
“Santa Clause…” The boy gasped in wonder. “The Easter Bunny?”   
“Heh.” Bunny gave a small shocked laugh.  
“Sand man…the Tooth Fairy! I knew you would come.”  
“Surprise! We came.” Tooth said, chirpily as ever.  
Harry looked sadly over at Jack, who looked so excited he would burst. He knew the boy wouldn’t be able to see either Jack or him. But Jack looked so hopeful it broke a small piece in Harrys heart, knowing that the hope would be soon shattered.  
“He can see us?” Jack said, stepping hesitantly towards the child.  
“Most of us.” Bunny said. Just as he predicted, Jacks crestfallen face sent knives through him. No one dissevered to utter isolation Jack was put through. Putting his hand on Jacks shoulder, he hoped it would give some comfort. Harry decided that after all this Pitch business had blown over they visit his Godson. Those two were like an unstoppable force of pranks when put together. He hoped it would sooth the older Spirit somewhat.  
“Guys, he’s still awake!” Tooth whispered, buzzing over their heads.  
“Sandy, knock him out.” Bunny ordered. A smiled grazed his features at Sandy’s antics. Sandy walked forward, catching his fist in his palm.  
“With the dream sand, you Gumby!-“ Everyone froze as they heard a growling of a dog. Seeing the greyhound, Harrys wondered exactly where it had come out from. He was sure it wasn’t there before.  
“No stop, that’s the Easter Bunny! What are you doing Abby? Get down!” Jack and Harry shared an amused glance at the ‘deer in headlights’ look on Bunny’s face.  
“All right, nobody panic.” Bunny said, backing up slowly.  
“That’s a um…that’s a greyhound. Do you know what greyhounds do to rabbits?” Jack sniggered.  
“Well it’s a pretty safe burdies he’s never met a rabbit like me. 6 foot 1, nerves of steel, master of tai chi and-“   
Harry pretended not to see Jack set off the alarm.  
“Crikey!”  
The crisp noise of the alarm snapped the greyhound into attack. Harry dodged out of the way as Bunny ran past him, nearly pushing Santa to the ground, It was utter chaos. The dream sand was bouncing off walls, hitting anyone who wasn’t quick enough to dodge. Soon enough, everyone was down for the count besides Sandy, Jack and Harry.  
“Oh I wished I had a camera right now…” Chuckled Jack as he watched the golden carrot above Bunny’s head dance with North’s Candy Canes.  
Sandy gave him an amused look. But when his eyes widened Harry knew something was wrong. Both Jack and Harry swivelled around, to see one of Pitch’s fearlings peeking in through the window. Harry had barely got a glance at it before it shot off, Harry on the back of its hoofs.  
There were two of them and without speaking they split up. Jack with Harry and Sandman by himself. Wild whipped through their hair as the two boys whipped through the buildings, gaining on the black horses. It was Jack who killed it, shooting a well-aimed ice shard, freezing the thing over completely.   
Harry noticed the shadow looming over them a second too late.  
“Jack Frost and Harry Hallows.” Came the chilling voice behind them. Whipping around he shot a pumpkin at Pitch, who dodge easily. He disappeared, reappearing above them, on higher ground.   
“You know for a mutual party, you’re rather chummy with those losers.” That’s when he noticed Sandy standing next to him. Leaping out of his skin, he retreated of few steps. Sandy then proceeded to do one of the coolest things Harry had ever seen. When Sandy was done beating up Pitch, Harry stared in wonder.  
“Whoa...”  
“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Jack said, a smile tugging at his lips. Sandy gave them both a nod, before floating down to meet Pitch. Harry and Jack followed him down.  
“Ok, easy! You can’t blame me for trying, Sandy. You don’t know what it’s like, to be weak! And hated! It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams. So, I’ll tell you what?” Harry felt dread override his systems. This would not end well. “You can have them back.”  
O.o  
Harry had noticed the majority of the Nightmares had chased after Sandy. And in a moment of hesitation, he looked between Jack and Sandy, who was still spiralling up into the sky. He followed Sandy.  
Harry caught up, Sandy giving a nod of appreciation. Picturing them in his mind and letting his magic seep out, five bats burst into existence, circling around their heads, ready to defend their master.  
The nightmares were closing in and fast and a sense of impending doom creeped through Harry, slashing at his heart with razor sharp claws. Sandy and Harry fought next to each other, trying in vain to push back the Nightmares. Harry was firing small pumpkins at them in quick succession; they had barely left his hand before he was throwing another one. Both of his arms were a blur with motion. He had no time to make them bigger, or harder, but they seemed effective enough. But whenever he or Sandy would bring one down, three more took its place.

Harry’s bats would dive at any enemy that would get too close to either him or Sandy, dissipating it before any could touch them. Pitch’s chuckle drew Harry’s attention away from the fight, sparing a glance at the maniac. When did he get there? A jolt of panic went through him as he saw Pitch aiming what looked like a bow and arrow at Sandy’s back.   
“No!” He yelled, as Pitch released the arrow.   
Time seemed to slow down for Harry, the arrow inched closer and closer to its target. It was then that Harry felt something snap inside of him.   
Harry had always been known to act rashly under pressure.  
Now was no different.  
Moving at a speed he hadn’t known he had possessed, he stepped into the line of fire.  
Everything came rushing back to normal, it brought pain with it.  
“Gah!” Harry choked as terrible, crippling pain blossomed from his chest. It was nothing like he had felt before. A burning hot, yet icy cold sensation swirled in Harry’s chest. Fear started to cloud his senses, however, the pain was sharp as ever.   
He must have fell, because the next thing he knew he was kneeling on Sandy’s sand platform. The roaring laughter drew Sandy’s attention away from the Nightmares, who were still attacking. An exclamation mark appeared above Sandy’s head as he saw this new Guardian, the youngest Spirit in Decades fall to his knees, black sand spreading throughout his body. A determined glare appeared on Sandy’s face, as he turned to fight the Nightmares with more vigour than before.   
“Oh I wasn’t expecting that!” Howled Pitch. His voice sounded an age away to Harry, an echo in a tunnel. “Harry Hallows, the youngest and most unappreciated Spirit taking the hit. Though, I really shouldn’t be surprised now, should I?” He sneered. A hollow feeling in Harrys chest made him look down. A wide gaping hole was where the arrow had hit. But there was no blood, or flesh. There was just black sand. Black sand that was creeping down his arms and up his neck.   
The roaring in his ears made it hard for him to hear anything. Though he would swore he just heard Jack calling his name.  
“What’s wrong Hallows? Are you finally beaten?”  
Harry gaged as sand started to spill out his mouth. Teary eyed, he looked up at Pitch and, without anyway to curse the thing that was Pitch Black, gave a defiant glare. Harry doubled over as the pain intensified. He went to cradle his head, but all his arms did was dissolve into the mess of black sand surrounding him.  
“Don’t fret Harry. We’re going to be having loads of fun where you’re going.” Pitch said, smirking down at Harry.  
Ignoring Pitch, he used the last of his strength to turn around. Sandy was fighting a losing battle, but it didn’t look like he would be leaving Harrys side anytime soon. Their eyes connected and Harrys tried to convey his final message. Run.  
Sandy gave him a sad look. Nodding, he quickly left the swarming black sand. If Harry had still had a mouth, he would have smiled. Only one Spirit would die tonight.   
Harry, now nothing but a pile of black sand, heard Pitch give a bark of laughter.  
“See Harry? Even in another life, no one loves you.”  
It was the last thing Harry heard before his last light of life was snuffed out.  
O.O  
Jack landed on the wing of Norths’ sleigh, ducking to avoid Bunnys’ Boomerang. Scrambling into the sleigh, he expected Harry to be there, smiling with the rush of the fight. But he wasn’t.   
Frowning, Jack looked into the sky, searching for his black haired friend. And, there he was, fighting side by side with Sandy. It looked as though they were losing.  
Jacks’ heart stopped as Harry narrowly missed the hoof of a Nightmare.   
“We have to go help them!” Jack shouted over a noise of the battle. Shooting up in the air, Jack tried to let the wind rushing through his hair calm him. Of course Harry would be alright, Jack thought, trying in vain to swallow the lump in his throat. It was Harry, he was…no one could defeat him. It was impossible.   
Looking back on this, Jack should have known what would happen next. Harry was too noble to do otherwise. He wished he could have moved faster to spare Harry the pain, stuck by his side instead of stupidly separating. But at that moment, Jack could do nothing more than stay frozen, shocked into place as the arrow hit his dearest friend.


	10. Tears of an Angel

Oh, the torment bred in the race,  
the grinding scream of death  
and the stroke that hits the vein  
the haemorrhage none can staunch, the grief  
the curse no man can bear

But there is a cure in the house  
and not outside it, no,  
not from others but from them,  
their bloody strife. We sing to you,  
dark gods beneath the earth.

Now hear, you blissful powers underground-  
answer the call, send help.  
Bless the children, give them triumph now.

Aeschylus, The Liberation Bearers

 

For the first time Jack could remember, he was cold. Funnily enough, he didn’t like it. Not at all.   
“No!” He screamed, pushing off the wing of the sleigh, leaving behind North, who was calling his name.   
He yelled to the wind to make him fly faster, he had to reach Harry. He had to…  
Jack let out an agonising choke as Harry started to fall away into the sand. Sandy was there…he would save Harry, right? Jack let out another scream as Sandy fled. Harry, harry couldn’t…  
“Harry!” Jack choked out another scream.   
Flying desperately to his one friend, he stared in anguish as Harry disappeared in the mass of black sand. Jack came to a sudden halt, mouth open in a silent scream. No. No no no no no. This couldn’t be happening, thought Jack. Jack was broken out of his frozen horror by laughter. It was Pitch.   
A sudden wave of pure hatred washed over Jack as he looked over at the lanky man. But there was calmness to it, comforting him in the knowledge that he was going to rip apart the man…no. The thing in front of him.  
“Poor, poor Jacky boy. My hand must have slipped. What did I do Jack? Did I kill you boy-“ Pitch was cut off as Jacks’ fist caught his jaw. Swinging his staff around to face Pitch, he saw the brief fear in his eyes as he looked into Jacks’ cold, dead ones. Jack had no mercy for this creature; he would show him the frightening side of winter.   
Dark clouds formed in the sky as Jack gathered his all his power into his staff, more than he thought he could ever possess in his thousand years of existence.  
“Jack, Jack! It was an accident. He stepped in front of the arrow.” Pitch’s eyes widened, darting around looking for a shadow. But they were in the sky, there was none.  
Ignoring Pitch’s words, Jack gathered the last of his power.  
“Boo.”  
~squiggly~  
It was like an explosion of tiny icicles. The Guardians instantly went to cover their eyes from the onslaught. North’s control of the sleigh was slipping from his one hand, so eyes tightly closed he reached out with his other. The icicles hit them on their exposed skin, stabbing them like needles.   
“Jack!” North roared into the wind. He had no idea where Jack was so, trusting his reindeer, he let them have control. Dropping the reins he shouted to his loyal companions. “Stop Jack!”  
“Это не хорошо ...” He said softly in his native language as they shot upwards.

O.o  
Jack growled as Pitch tried to escape. Pitch had dodged Jacks first attack, barely. This time, Jack would miss. Forming an icicle the size of his arm, he aimed at the retreating Pitch. A mad laugh escape Jack, turning into sobs just as he was about to throw it.  
A weight crashed into his back, making him drop his weapon as huge arm engulfed him.  
“North!” Jack yelled, twisting in his grip. “He’s getting away! Let me get him, he killed Harry!” Jack wailed, his struggling becoming weaker. Jacks eyes scanned the skies desperately, but Pitch had escaped. The storm was dropping, wind becoming weaker around him.  
“It’s okay Jack.” North said quietly. The other guardians crowed around them, looking at Jack sadly.  
“It’s not okay” Jack said back, before shaky sobs overwhelmed him.   
O.o

Jack had locked himself in one of the many rooms in Norths’ workshop. Shelves were stacked with toys, and it harboured a large window looking out onto the snowy cliffs of the North Pole. But the view was anything but pleasant, a snowstorm was raging, becoming deadly to anyone who dared to walk outside. The room itself was snowing, snowflakes drifted to the floor, creating a growing layer of snow collecting at the ground.   
The Guardians had tried to talk to him, but he had remained stubbornly quite, refusing to let them in.  
Harry….Jack closed his eyes, drawing his knees closer to his chest. Why did it hurt so much? Jack thought, burying his face into his legs. If he had only gotten there sooner…  
Jack sighed, rubbing his face. Withdrawing his hand, he looked at it, shocked. When did he start crying again? He felt another tear fall gracefully down his face. Wiping it away angrily, he wondered why he was acting so much like a baby. If Harry was here he would….  
Another tear.  
He would probably sit next to him in silence, with no need for words. Then drag him off to see Teddy…  
Oh lord, what would he tell Harrys’ family? They wouldn’t ever want to talk to him again.  
Jack choked back a sob. Why did Harry have to leave him like this? Why did he have to be reminded every second that he was never going to hear Harrys’ tinkling laugh again, or have their snowball/pumpkin fights? He would never have his best friend back.   
Jack sucked in a breath, feeling like he was drowning in his sorrow. He remembered the first time they met, the epic snowball fight that bounded their friendship together. He remembered when Harry introduced him to Teddy, to Rose and Hugo. He remembered the feeling of joy he had when he was around Harry, he remembered the first fight they had, just before the Guardians had found them. He remembered the look in Harrys eyes as he was faced with a challenge. The look on his face when he showed Harry the lake he had woke up in. The time Harry brought Jack to his parents’ graves. All the times they flew side by side, just to feel the wind in their hair. When Jack would tag along on Halloween, just because he didn’t want to leave Harry’s side. The time when they collapse on the ground laughing at the elaborate prank they had just performed.  
In that moment, he remembered everything.  
Were all those memories for nothing, now that Harry wasn’t here? Was he going to keep on living, the memories slowly rotting away?   
Jack jumped to his feet, pacing around the snow covered room. No, he would not allow it. He would make sure the legend of Harry Hollows lived on. It was the least he could do for…for Harrys family. He swallowed more tears down. He had to tell them, they had a right to know…  
But Jack was frightened, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to be the one who had to witness the reaction of Teddy, Hugo or Rose. He didn’t want to watch as Hermione collapsed, or Ron go into a raging denial and storm out.   
But it was what Harry would want, he supposed. How could Teddy continue his life, waiting for when Harry was going to visit, when the reality…  
With shaking hands, he opened the large window, feeling the blast of wind from his blizzard. Taking another quivering breath, Jack slowly pushed away from the window, not too sure if he wanted the wind to catch him.  
O.o

Jack landed heavily on the Weasleys lawn, stumbling under the weight of his out of control emotions. The snow storm had followed him, it had grown in anguish, whizzing around Jack in an uncontrollable mess.   
Jack starred at the familiar house in a bittersweet moment. A wave of memories washed over him as he look at the now snow covered grass, he could almost swear he could see the Snowman they had built, smiling at him. Jack wasn’t aware of the tears freezing on his face.  
Looking back at the house, he saw the lights glowing merrily through the closed windows. It would be around the time when they would be having dinner. Jack hated himself for being the one who had to destroy the family moment, to intrude with such grave news. The storm whipped around more aggressively, holding him back. But Jack couldn’t move, even if he wanted to.  
A shout came from inside the house, and a few moments later Teddy fell out the door, hastily slipping on a Jacket.  
“Jack! Where’s Harry?” Teddy shuddered, shoving his hands into his pockets to hide them from the storm.  
Jack could only blink down at the 14 year old boy, lost for words. ‘Where’s Harry?’   
Such an innocent question, and possibly the most gut wrenching one he had been faced with.  
‘Where’s Harry?’   
Jack tried once more to swallow the constricting lump in his throat, but to no avail.  
Where are you, Harry?  
“Jack, are you crying?” Teddy’s eyes widened and his mouth fell agape, “Where’s Harry? Look, come inside and out of the…well, I don’t suppose you feel cold.”  
Oh how wrong he was.  
Grabbing Jack’s hand, the small boy dragged Jack into the house, closing the door behind them. Snow still fell from the ceiling as Jack led him into the Kitchen.  
“Hermione, Jack’s here!” Teddy called out, hovering with concern over Jack. Walking over to the wooden table, Jack sat down burying his face into his hands.  
Oh god, this was really happening, wasn’t it? He wanted to disappear, escape into the shadows like he had seen Harry do.  
“We just had dinner, do you want leftovers…?” Teddy said awkwardly, shifting his stance. He glanced over at the doorway, wishing for Hermione to come through the door to fix whatever had broken Jack.  
He hid behind his hands, shielding him from Teddy. Why did he come here in the first place? Jack whimpered as he heard Hermione walk briskly into the room.  
“Jack? What’s wrong?” She said, surprise lacing her words. Her voice was like a stab to Jacks gut, the warmth in her voice contradicting with his frozen heart. He heard the chair next to him scrape across the tiled floor, a light body slipping into it.   
“Jack?”  
Somehow, Jack found the courage to lift his head. His icy blue eyes connected with Hermione’s brown ones. There was a flicker of understanding, shooting through her warm eyes. Tears started to collect in them, mirroring Jack.  
“What happened to Harry, Jack?” She chocked out, holding the gaze with Jack. Jack let out a shaky breath, trying to gain control over his body.   
“I-…He…” Apparently, that was all Hermione needed to hear, pulling Jack close to her chest. They cradled each other.  
“What happened to Harry?” Teddy whispered. Looking up at the boy, Jack gave him a tearful look. Teddys hair rippled, turning to a stormy grey.  
“N-no…” Teddy said, shaking his head. Teddy’s skin turned a sickly pale, dark circles formed under his eyes.  
“No!” He screamed, tears cascading down his face. All Jack could do was flinch as Teddy threw a vase in his rage.  
“It was because of you, wasn’t it?!” Teddy shouted.  
“Ted…” Hermione said sadly, holding out a hand.  
Teddy visibly swallowed and stared at Hermione’s hand. Shaking his head, he turned on the spot a raced out of the room.  
“I’m so sorry…” Jack whispered as Hermione embraced him.

O.o  
Teddy had locked himself in his room, not answering anyone’s pleas to come out. Jack and Hermione sat in the kitchen, staring down at their cups of teas Hermione had made dazedly.   
Jack was studying the piece of fluff floating on the surface of the warm liquid. The tears had stopped, for now, and they were left with crushing silence.  
“Where’s Ron and the kids?” Jack broke the silence, still looking down at his cup.  
“Rose and Hugo are at a friend’s house. Ron was supposed to be back hours ago, but it looks like he’s been held up again. There has been more terrorist attacks lately. We didn’t tell Harry because, well, let’s admit it. He wouldn’t rest ‘till he had taken care of it. And don’t we all know that boy needed rest.”   
Jack smiled sourly down at his cup. They brightly coloured cats that danced along the side of it did nothing to cheer him up.  
“I think you gave him that. Rest…and freedom. He was so…hollow before he met you. He would visit, but he was not nearly as cheerful.”  
He could hear the smile in her voice, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up.  
“Jack…how did it happen?”  
Jack froze up, hands clenching around his mug.  
“I- I don’t really know,” He croaked “He was hit by an arrow made up of Pitch’s nightmares, he saved a- a friend…that’s what he- what he…”  
A warm hand was placed on his back.  
“Harry was always self-sacrificing.” She said quietly, rubbing circles on his back.  
“What?” Jack asked. He had never really asked about Harrys past. All he had known was that he had been in some sort of war. It had always bugged him how Harry would, seemingly randomly, be washed over by sadness and longing.   
“He didn’t tell you? Well, I’m not too surprised, honestly. He never did like the attention. “   
“Could you tell me?” Jack broke his staring contest with the tea to look pleadingly at Hermione.  
Smiling down at Jack, a perfect bittersweet expression washed over her face.  
“I doubt Harry would mind much, seeing as you were one of his closest friends.” She cleared her throat, ridding her of any lingering tears. “Well, there once was a boy who was unfortunate enough to become a part of a prophecy…” 

O.o  
North was standing in front of the globe; the lights were flaring brightly, sparkling in the light. If Harry hadn’t of sacrificed himself for Sandy, who knows the world of trouble they would have been in. North sighed. He hadn’t known the youngest Sprit very well. As a child, Harry had never once written to him, nor, to his knowledge, received the gifts North had left.   
North took a cookie from the plate the elves had left him. Nibbling at it, Sandy caught his attention. It was an unusual sight to see Sandy brooding, normally, if he wasn’t sleeping, he would be buzzing around the place, still in wonder of North’s workshop.   
North jumped as Sandy bounced back to life, a smile brightening up his features as he zoomed out the nearest exit. North was still reeling, what had gotten into his small friend?

O.o

After Hermione had finished Harrys story, Jack sat there, looking off into the distance.   
“I never knew…” Jack said, looking over at Hermione. He realized then that she was crying again.  
Noticing Jacks concern, she waved him off. A small chuckle escaped her as she looked at Jack.  
“Don’t worry about it Jack. I’m just glad you were there to put the pieces back together. My Harry chose well. I don’t suppose you got around to kissing him?”  
Jack blinked. “What?”  
Kiss Harry?! Why would she say that?   
“Never mind, just a thought.” She replied, taking a sip from her now cold tea. “So, I told you about Harry from my world, what’s your story?”   
Jack smiled sadly, pushing his thoughts away. “There was the time we tried to break into North’s workshop.”  
“Santa Clause?” Her eyes widened.  
“Yeah, but we got caught and got thrown into Antarctica.”  
“Only Harry….” She shook her head in wonder.  
Silence fell once more. That was, before Sandy came rushing in through the open window, startling Jack and Hermione out of their seats.


	11. Memories of The Damned

Having no one to study with did not bother Hermione. She had always rather liked the solitude, no one was there to harp about her studying habits, or groan when she finished one book, only to pick up another. It was just her, and the words on the paper. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn’t notice as a boy appeared behind her.  
“Hello Hermione.”  
Hermione froze in her seat. No, it couldn’t be. How could he sneak into Hogwarts undetected when he had been missing for a year?! Everyone had assumed he had been kidnapped and killed by Death Eaters after he had defeated Voldemort. Search parties had gone out to find their Hero, but came back with not even a hint of where he could have been.  
Turning slowly, her brown eyes met with a vivid, unnatural green.  
“Harry?!” She gasped. He looked different from when she last saw him. He had lost the little tan he had gained last year from all the camping, paler then he had ever been. His eyes were even greener then she thought could be possible, raven hair defying gravity. But the biggest change was that he was floating.  
Ignoring the change, she couldn’t help launching herself at Harry, tearing up as Harry hugged her back. Pulling away, she looked at him from arm’s length.  
“You’re floating.” She said  
He smiled sheepishly. “It’s new, can’t seem to be able to stay standing for too long.”  
“Why are you floating?” Hermione asked desperately, looking lost.  
“You may want to sit down.” He said, ushering her to the seat she had just recently vacated. She sat without a second thought, speechless, she looked up at Harry for some sort of explanation for where he had been.  
“Alright, so I know it’s been around a year for you, but for me it’s been five minutes. Honestly!” He added at Hermione’s raised eyebrow. “Apparently I was dying because, wait, I still have to tell you why I gave myself up to Voldemort, don’t I?”  
Hermione nodded, dumbfounded at the turn of recent events.  
“Well, turns out I was a Horcrux. When Voldemort tried to kill me when I was a baby, he’s soul split and latched onto me. So, I had to die. When I did, I woke up in Kings Cross and Dumbledore was there. He gave me a choice, move on or go back. Obviously I chose the latter, only to find out that it was the Horcrux that had kept me alive for all this time. I met with Man In Moon and he made me into a…spirit, I think he said. All I know is that I govern Halloween.” Harry seemed to deflate after his speech, attentively looking at Hermione for a reaction.  
Hermione herself seem to be frozen again. She slowly processed the onslaught of new information. Finally, she spoke.  
“You seem surprisingly calm about this, seeing as it only happened five minutes ago.” She said, still with a faraway look in her eyes.  
Frowning, Harry looked out of the library window. The moon shinned brightly at him. There was something calming about having the moons rays on him.  
“Yeah, I suppose so.”  
Harry looked back at Hermione, who was staring at him.  
“What?”  
“We need to research this.” She said, springing up from the seat. He followed her to the rows of bookshelves starting with ‘S’. Summoning books to her on ‘Spirits’, she sat at the nearest table.   
They stayed like that for some time, flipping through books, pointing out relevant information to eachother.  
“You’re an absolute Angel, Hermione. You know that?”

O.o  
Ron Billius Weasley was a very bored man, he would just lie on his couch most of the day, wondering when his girlfriend would be back from Hogwarts. Ron smiled when the thought of Hermione went through his head. His eyes drifted over to the small coffee table, where an engagement ring sat. He reached out for the ring, and caressed it lovingly. One day, it would rest proudly on Hermione’s finger.  
“Ron! You’re getting engaged!” Ron sat up so suddenly, it made his head spin. Stumbling off the coach he stared disbelievingly at his best friend.  
“Harry?”  
“Hullo, Ron.” Harry smiled.  
“Wha…where?”  
“Oh yeah, forgot about the whole year gab thing again.” Harry scrunched up his face.  
Ron stood there, staring in disbelief.   
“Look, sit down and I’ll explain it all to you.” Harry said, floating up a bit higher.  
Ron didn’t hear anything after that, on account of him fainting.  
~squiggily~  
Ron blinked open his eyes, did he dream or that or…no, Harry was sitting-floating- next to him.  
“I’ve gone bonkers.” Ron exclaimed, letting his head fall back on the couches cusions.  
“Don’t be an idiot Ron, if you give me a second I’ll explain.”  
All Ron did was wave his hand at Harry signalling for him to start.  
Harry sighed before launching into his story. Ron just lay there, trying to take in the information that was being unloaded on him. When Harry was done, Ron cracked open an eye, staring at him.  
“So this ‘Man in Moon’ guy saved you?”   
Harry nodded.  
“By turning you into the Spirit of Halloween?”  
“Yes.”  
They stared at each other for five seconds before Ron sat up.   
“You want some fire whiskey?”  
“Oh merlin yes.”  
O.o  
Ginny sighed as she righted herself again. Maybe she could distract herself by looking at the passer buys. She glanced at the window when a mess of jet black hair caught her eye. Harry? She shot out of her chair and made a dash to the door. Ripping it open, she flung herself outside. And there he was, in all his glory.  
“Harry?”  
“Hi Gin.”  
“Where in the hell have you been?!” She yelled, storming up to Harry. “Do you know how worried we have been Harry James Potter?!”  
People had started staring at Ginny like she was mad. They hurried away, giving Ginny a wide berth.  
“Ginny, they can’t see me. They’ll think you’re bonkers.” Harry said amused. At least now no one paid him any mind. He could actually go through town without being mobbed for once.  
Dragging a furious Ginny into an Alleyway , he let go of her sleeve, stepping back.  
“What do you mean no one can see you?” She frowned.  
“It means I’m not human anymore. I’m the Spirit of Halloween.”  
Harry retold his story for the third time today, watching as Ginny’s hardened expression softened.  
“Look, Gin. I know you’re dating Dean and all but I want to get something’s straight. I-“  
“I know Harry, you don’t need to explain yourself.” She said, patting his shoulder. Relaxing, he looked at Ginny hopefully.  
“Really?”  
“Of course. Now, go find yourself a nice guy to snog, tell me details or I will hurt you.” Walking away, she called over her shoulder, “Remember to use protection!”  
She left a spluttering Harry in the Alleyway, smirking to herself as she walked back into Puddifoots. Dean was sitting anxiously at their table, smiling when he saw her approach.  
“Where did you disappear off to?” He asked as she sat down.  
“Catching up with an old friend.”  
O.o  
Harry’s eyes snapped open, jerked awake by his sudden rush of memories.


	12. Wanted Dead Or Alive

Jack and Hermione jumped out of their seats. Hermione had her wand held in front of her, a calm exterior washing over stance. A souvenir left by the war.  
Jack, on the other hand, was trying to calm the buzzing spirit down.

“Sandy, what are you…-stop moving!” Jack growled, placing his hands on Sandy’s shoulders to hold him still. Jack was assaulted by a rush of golden pictures, changing quicker than Jack could make out.

“Slow down Sandy!”

“Is that the Sand Man…?” Hermione asked slowly, hesitantly lowering her wand.  
Nodding over his shoulder, Jack returned his attention to Sandy.

“One picture at a time, alright?” Nodding excitedly, a picture of a pumpkin appeared over Sandy’s head. Jacks face dropped at the mention of Harry. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hermione asked curiously.

“He’s dead, Sandy…” Jacks jaw dropped at the shake of Sandy’s head. Sandy’s grin seemed to double as Jacks lips twitched.

“You mean…” Jack asked, needing confirmation. Sandy nodded his head enthusiastically.

Jack let go of Sandy, shooting up into the air. He doubled over in joyous laughter, tears streaming down his face.

“Wha…” Hermione said, lost. Flying down he gripped Hermione in a bone breaking hug.

“He’s alive!” Jack whooped. Hermione cried out in joy, and hugged Jack back.

“I knew he couldn’t stay dead, he’s never managed it before!” Hermione cried.

Jack flew over to the grinning Spirit, “Where is he, Sandy?!”

The dream spirits grin faltered, showing them a picture of a nightmare.  
Jacks grin turned into a snarl. “Pitch.” He spat.  
Nodding, Sandy tugged Jack towards the open window. The picture of North’s world globe shone above he’s head.

“North’s workshop?” At Sandy’s nod, Jack turned to Hermione.

“I promise I will get him back.”

“Oh no you don’t. I’m coming with you Jack Frost.” Hermione took a determined step forward.

“You can’t Hermione. Go tell Teddy, plan a ‘welcome back’ party for Harry, or something.” Jack grinned.

Wringing her hands together, she looked cautiously at Jack. “Alright. Be careful though, would you? And dear Merlin, don’t make me bash your heads together.” She returned a nervous grin.

“Don’t worry Hermione,” Jack said, ignoring the ‘bash heads together’ comment. “We’ll be back before you can say snowballs.”

Hermione watched as the pair shot out the window. Collapsing on recently vacated chair, she let out a whoosh of air. She couldn’t help but feel throughout the course of 5 hours, her life had been ripped to shreds, and then put precariously back together. The emotional turmoil had exhausted her, who knew this much could happen within the space of hours?  
Leaning her head on the table, she took a shaky breath, before going up to give the good news to Teddy.

 

~squiggly~

Harry’s eyes snapped open, jerked awake by his sudden rush of memories.  
A wall of darkness greeted him, and he began to question whether he really did open his eyes.  
Did he even have eyes?  
Harry tried to lift an arm, feeling elated as it did what he commanded. With a bit a resistance, Harry was able to brush his stiff fingertips over his face.   
Jerking his hand away as fast as it would allow, the beating in Harrys chest grew more frantic. 

What in the world was that?! Harry thought fuzzily. It was almost like a blank canvas of sand. Like…like someone had covered his face with the grainy substance, sticking it over his eyes, nose and mouth.   
But then how could he…

“Do I feel the poke of subconsciousness?” The purring voice of Pitch seemed to echo from the darkness around Harrys being. “I wasn’t expecting you to gain your will back anytime soon, but you are the great, late Harry Potter.”

Harry tried to turn his head, to pinpoint the location of Pitch. Getting wobbly to his feet, he stood, shoulders slumped with the pressure of an unknown source pushing down on him.  
Grunting in effort, he tried to take a step forward.

“Oh don’t bother Harry, you are a part of the Nightmares now. A part of me.” Harry swore he heard the smirk in the Spirits words as Harry once again, tried to painstakingly take another step. “I was surprised you had happy memories left. I have to admit, the spark of life in you was a surprise.”

Ignoring Pitches voice, Harry took another step. He had to escape, he had to protect Teddy and Jack. He wasn’t with them, and Jack would undoubtedly confront Pitch now. He had to-

“Thinking of your boyfriend, are you? Oh, and that little runt of a thing, the freak.” Harry growled, the sound coming deep from his throat. “Oh I’m going to have fun when I get my hands on our little Jack. Who knows how much he will be able to take. And Teddy, the torment I could put him through…”Pitches voice purred

A flash of rage sparked in Harry. He would not allow Pitch to hurt his family. 

“How cute! You think you can actually stop me?”

A shot of pain ran down the side of his ribs, clutching them he bent forward, cradling himself as he whimpered in pain.  
What was that?! Harry thought as he stumbled. He had definitely heard the snapping of bone. Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, he straightened.  
Oh Merlin. He thought as he felt the bone slide even more out of place. Breathing hard, he gathered the remains of his courage and kept walking.

“Oh you stupid boy. Don’t you get it? I have the power here.”  
Harry tried to scream as his leg gave an audible snap. Crumpling to the ground, he curled into himself. The agony in his leg a rib gave an angry pulse, before disappearing completely.  
Harry froze, baffled at why Pitch would take the pain away.

“Physical injury was never my choice of torture. I prefer the waves and knots of the mind. The torment that can come from a well-placed memory. Or even when one is confronted with their worst fears. Lucky for me you have so much I can work off of.

The black around him swirled, becoming stained with different colours. Shakily getting to his feet, Harry looked up. He was standing in front of Number 4 Privet Drive; the manicured house looked as bland as ever, perfectly matching the houses that seemed to stretch on forever along the street.  
The garden was bursting with flowers, looking healthy as ever. Harry frowned down at them, all the times he had slaved over that bed of flowers seemed to rush back to him. The terrible sun burns he had to tend to in his cupboard after he was finally allowed back into the house, when he accidently fell into them and got locked outside for the night. 

Harry shook his head, willing himself to pull out before he got lost in his memories. He had to look for Pitch and knowing that devious spirit, the clue to finding him probably rested in the house. Glaring at the seemingly innocent building, Harry walked cautiously up the driveway. If Pitch could control everything, Harry would have to be very careful where he stepped.

Harry stared at the door, considering his options. The glass decorated door stared back at him, daring him to enter.  
He hesitantly reached out to the door knob, resting his hand on it. Taking a breath, he twisted the door knob, pushing open the door.

Taking a step inside, Harry looked around at his childhood prison. The cupboard under the stairs glared noticeably at him. Throwing it a fearful glance at it, he walked a wide berth around it. Ripping his mind away from the apprehensive feeling, he focused on what he had to do.

Harry poked his head into the kitchen. The room was empty of people. The table sat where it always had, in the middle of the room, perfectly straight to the doorway. The tiled floor, one he had repeatedly scrubbed, was sparkling as always. Harry felt a pang of dread as he realised he still had his shoes on. Aunt Petunia wouldn’t like that at all, neither would Uncle Vernon. He nearly tackled himself to the ground before he jolted back, gripping onto the table.  
What in the name of Merlin was that?! Harry shook his head again, ridding it of a fog that had been gathering.  
I need to get out of here… Harry bolted for the front door, stumbling on the way. He grabbed the door knob, desperately trying to turn it.  
It stayed fixed in place.  
Harry ran his hand over his face, jumping back when he felt skin.   
That’s one good thing. Harry thought. Taking another look around at the house, he glared accusingly. It seemed as though the house was empty, but Harry had the feeling that his every move was being watched. But of course, what else would he expect? 

Harry shivered, back in the kitchen it was almost like he was five again, tracking mud into the kitchen after tending to the garden. Rolling his shoulders, he walked down the corridor. He had to get out of here. Pitch was messing with him; he could feel the twinges of someone poking around in his mind.

Harry tried the back door, but to no avail. To Harry’s annoyance, the windows were also locked. Leaning in close, he was shocked to find that no, the windows hadn’t been locked. It was almost like they were a part of the wall, only there for decorations. Checking the doors, this proved to be true also. Frowning, he looked to the roof.  
What are you planning, old man?

Harry jumped as a rattle came from upstairs. Cautiously, he climbed the steps, ready to leap into action at any moment.  
The rattling was coming from Dudley’s old bedroom door. It was banging on it frame, like something was desperately trying to burst free. Harry walked slowly towards it, body tense. 

He had no idea what compelled him to do it, but he reached out and gripped the door knob. If harry had dared done this while he lived here, he would have gotten quite the punishment. How dare he enter the normal child’s room? He belonged in his small freakish room. Sneering, Harry twisted the door knob violently. Yanking it open, Harry stepped into the room.

This…this was not Dudley’s room. Harry froze, it was, what he only could presume was Antarctica. Spinning around, Harry observed the door he just stepped through. It stood there on its own, surrounded by snow. Harry could see into the corridor opposite him, lit up by the artificial light.   
Harry rubbed his arms, ridding them of Goosebumps. With his new title, he had become quite impervious with the cold. But there was something about the snow that always gave him Goosebumps.

Perhaps it was the texture.

“Harry?” A very familiar voice came from behind him. Swivelling around, he found himself face to face with Jack.

“Jack!” Harry exclaimed, taking a step forward. Jack threw himself at Harry, burying himself into his chest. Frowning, Harry looked down on him.

“Are you alrigh-“ Harry was caught off guard as Jack crashed his lips onto Harrys.   
Harry stood there dumbfounded as Jack basically mutilated his face. Harry’s own moan snapped him out of his trance, shoving Jack off him. 

“What was that?!” Harry squeaked, wiping his mouth. Harry was absolutely horrified, staring at Jack, who had a crazed look in his eye.

“I need you Harry.” Jack growled, taking a step towards Harry.

Stumbling back away from him, Harry dodged Jacks next leap clumsily, landing in the snow.

“I know you have feelings for me Harry.” Scrambling to his feet, Harry blocked Jacks next move, keeping the Spirit well away from his face.

“What…Jack.” Jack grabbed at Harrys arms, trying to rip them from his grip to get at Harry. 

“I love you.” Jack replied, tearing away from Harrys hands and shoved their lips together.

Squeaking, Harry struggled away. No, this was wrong. They were friends. Jack didn’t have feeling for him, did he?!

He pushed the spirit away again, this couldn’t be Jack. It was Pitch messing with his head, it had to be.

“You’re not real!” Harry yelped, looking frantically for the door. It was so close! All he had to do was-

Harrys thoughts were interrupted as the non-Jack tackled him to the ground. Non-Jack clawed at Harrys back, trying to get to his face.

“Get off!”” Harry roared. He rolled over suddenly, throwing the fake Jack off him. Running for the door, he flew through the doorway, slamming it behind him. 

There was silence. No banging on the door, or embarrassing confessions from Jack.   
Non-Jack. Harry reminded himself. He rested his head on the door, taking a deep breath. Why did Pitch use that, of all things, to torture him? Of course, Harry was scared out of his wits.  
He didn’t have feelings for Jack, did he?

Harry let his fingers brush over his lips. A blush formed on his cheeks as he remembered the little fact that he had moaned. 

A booming laugh made Harry jump.

“Afraid of your feelings?! Pathetic Hallows.” The laughter continued, successfully throwing Harry into a rage.

“What are you playing at, Pitch.” Harry spat.

Pitch’s laughter was dimming into a giggle, “Oh, nothing much. Just that each door is a gateway to one of your fears. But really?! You chose that one first.” He chuckled. “Honestly, I thought you two would have already gotten together. What with the sex eyes he constantly gives you. Too bad you’ll never see them again. You spent so much time running from yourself, that you have effectively doomed yourself.”

And with that, Pitch’s voice left. Harry leaned against Dudleys door again, banging his head against wood. He didn’t like to admit it, but Pitch was right.

Harry was doomed.


	13. Highway To Hell

Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head to glare at the door across the hall; the door to his old room. He could almost feel Pitch daring him to open the door. Maybe it would be best to just sit in the hallway, to just spend eternity humming different tunes to himself. It couldn’t be that bad could it? After all, muggle music could be quite entertaining. And a bonus, Teddy has, what he thought, a good taste in music. As it was the only muggle music he had really listened to, he found that liking Teddy’s music may be bias somewhat.  
ACDwhatever had some good songs, he knew. Didn’t the lyrics go ‘One The Highway to’ something or other? He frowned as he tried to remember the words.   
Shaking his head, he dispelled his thoughts.  
“Music; not important right now.” He told himself. Straightening up, he brushed down his old, worn shirt. On the subject of Teddy, he had to get back to his Godson. The question was, how exactly was he going to do that?  
“Pitch!”   
No answer.  
“When I actually want to talk…” He grumbled.  
The hallway was looking very tempting, but the thoughts of poor Teddy flashed back into his mind. He heaved a sigh, looking critically at the door. May as well try to get out, and if he had to do that by playing Pitch’s game, so be it.  
Taking cautious steps towards the door, Harry laid a hand on the knob. In a swift movement, Harry swung the door open. Harry didn’t step in yet, looking for signs of danger.  
A few moments passed without anything leaping out at him, so with a shrug he walked into darkness.  
As happened before, the door slammed shut behind him, making him jump. He stayed still for a couple heart beats, before walking forward blindly.  
It was like stepping through a thick fog into a clear space. Instantly Harry wanted to fall back into the black fog. No, he couldn’t handle that. Pitch couldn’t be that cruel.  
The dead eyes of Sirius Black stared back at him.  
O.o  
Jack and Sandy shot through one of the many windows in North’s workshop, where the Globe room was perched.   
“Guys!” Jack shouted, drawing the attention of the famed Guardians from the flickering lights of children losing their beliefs to the two frantic Spirits. Jack landed, turning to North.  
“He tried to explain on the way. It’s about Harry.” Jack said, looking between North and Sandy.  
North perked up at the name of the presumed dead Halloween Spirit.  
“Harry? Sandy, vhat is it?” He asked, turning to the Sand man. A flurry of pictures zoomed over Sandy’s head, North seemingly the only one to understand him, to an extent.  
Jack fidgeted, catching the meaning of a few shapes. A pumpkin, obviously Harry, A Nightmare, presumably Pitch and two ropes which had been knotted together, which Jack thought might represent a bond of some kind.  
Jack stared hard at North as he nodded his head slowly at Sandy. Turning to Jack, a beaming smile lit up his face. Jack could see where the famed rosy cheeks lore started.  
“Harrys alive!” North cheered, scoping down to grasp Jack in a suffocating hug. Even as the breath slowly left him, Jack couldn’t help the manic grin that came over his face. North released him and Jack let out a tired, relieved laugh.   
“Blimey!” Bunny said, as North picked him as his next victim. Tooth flew down to join in the hug between the two Guardians, but Jack was in his own world. Harrys was alive! Jacks grin faulted for a second. If Harry was alive, where the heck was he? As doubt started to clog his mind, Jack shook it away. He was the Spirit of fun for gods sake, he shouldn’t be moping! Harry was alive and Jack was going to get him back, no matter where he was.   
A new determination settled in, catching North’s eye he spoke.  
“Where is he?” North glanced at Sandy before putting the other Spirits down.  
“It’s sort of hard to explain.” He said, his thick Russian accent getting deeper as the mood became serious, “From vhat Sandy tried to say, Harry iz a part of ze nightmares, a part of Pitch now. Sandy could feel Harrys…er, subconscious. You see, Pitch made his nightmares out of Sandy’s dream sand, Sandy still has a connection, a very small one to Pitch’s nightmares.”  
Tooth spoke up, frowning. “If it’s such a small connection, how could Sandy feel it? No offence!” She said quickly.  
North’s eyes darkened, looking Jack in the eye. “The most likely option is zat Harry had a reaction to something, something big that alerted Sandy. Sandy thinks that Harry might be…” North trailed off.  
A lump formed in Jack’s throat. “How do we get him back?”  
Running a hand through his hair, North sighed. “As important Harry is Jack, there are the children of the world to consider. The Guardians have made a promise to protect them at all costs”  
“So you’re not going to go help him!? Wh-“ Jack was interrupted by North’s hand coming up, showing him to stop.  
“Pitch is our biggest threat at this moment, every one of the Guardians has to be there to fight him. But you Jack, are not an official Guardian. You have not made the oath.” North’s eye twinkled as Jack brightened.  
“What do I have to do?” He said instantly, heart thundering in his chest.  
“Well, having temporary gained Halloweens power, Pitch has become stronger. Sandy thinks that if he vas to go against Pitch now, it would be hard for him to not get his Dream Sand turned into Nightmares instantly. Vhat we can do is something similar to vhat Pitch did to Harry. You’ll become a part of Sandy, and then we would give you over to Pitch.” North hesitated. “There iz a slight problem, once in there you’re going to hav to find Harry, zat may be difficult. But there iz a bigger one: Sandy cannot bring you back out. You’ll have to find your own way out, how to do zat, I do not know.”  
Jack nodded; there was no way he was giving up a chance to save his friend. “I’ll do it.”  
Nodding, North gestured for Sandy. Jack watched as Sandy took hesitant steps forward, giving North a look that Jack didn’t recognise.   
“Good luck Mate, and don’t forget to drag Short Stack and yourself back. I still have to get back at ya for stealin’ me Boomerang.” Bunny said, crossing his arms over his chest, amused.  
Tooth was getting a little bit teary and swooping down, gave Jack a small hug. “Don’t get lost in there.”  
“I’ll just smile and my pearly whites will give me some light.” He winked, making Tooth giggle.   
Sandy tapped him on the leg, looking down he nodded his consent. Placing a hand on Jack knee, Sandy frowned, concentrating. Jack felt a tingling sensation in his knee, it felt…weird, to say the least. Harry had looked like he was in pain, but then again, he had been brutally broken down whilst fighting it. Giving a final mock salute, he felt the tingling sensation reach his arms, then neck. Soon, the golden light invaded all his senses.  
~squiggly~  
North frowned as Jack disappeared into sand, drawing back into Sandy himself. He wondered if he had done the right thing, not telling Jack. If he did he wasn’t sure if Jack would have gone in or not. North would have hated seeing the indecision on the boy’s face.  
Sandy look at him, raising his eyebrow. He could practically hear what Sandy was trying to say.  
You sure you know what you’re doing?  
“Is it just me, or am I seeing another problem in this plan?” Bunny asked, walking up next to North.  
“No.” North sighed.  
“But…won’t Pitch become stronger if he has Jacks power too?” Tooth asked quietly.  
“We are just going to have to trust Jack to get them out soon.” North frowned.


	14. Survivor Guilt

YOU WILL WANT TO READ THIS:  
Alright, my theory on the whole absorbing the opponent and power thing:  
To absorb another Spirits power, a number of things are needed. First off, they have to be in a plane or dimension where they are not physical, or at least not to other Spirits. This is possible if you have the means to, as Pitch and Sandy do, this is explained in the movie.   
Second of all, once they are in the non-physical state, the essence of what make the Spirit once was must be absorbed. This is done by killing or tearing apart the Spirit’s body, leaving the essence or soul of the Spirit in a limbo. It’s then that you absorb it into you, capturing their consciousness and power.  
Third, you have to reach them on a physiological state. This can be done with the Spirits consent or not. If they do not yield, you must get them to express a strong emotion. e.g. Fear. This will loosen their ties with their power, which allows you to grab it. This is supported by the fact that after Pitch has taken in Sandy, he gets substantially more powerful.  
You can only draw a Spirit in, you can’t take one out. They have to do that themselves, but can only be possible when the body is ‘torn’. They need to take back control of their powers, this is the only way they can escape.  
~~~~

Harry unfroze, stumbling backwards as Sirius walked towards him, arm stretch out. It was a horrifying image. Sirius…he had…rotted. The stench wafted around Harry, making him gag. The flesh was an unnatural colour; an angry red. His eyes, Harry thought, was probably the most disturbing thing about the corpse; the bright silver eyes that Harry had fought hard to keep in his memory were gone, they were now dull, lifeless.   
Harry frowned as he realised that something felt…off. This…whatever it was didn’t feel like anything he had come into contact with. Harry, being the Spirit of Halloween had handled many a spirit, felt all different kinds of energy. He had to, if he was to seek out who managed to escape from the afterlife every year.   
Ignoring the lump that formed in his throat at the sight of Sirius, he stepping forward hesitantly. At his movement, the thing leapt at him, sweeping its arm forward to slash him. Harry just managed to dodge the unexpected move, fingernails scraping against his cheek, stinging him slightly.  
“You killed me.” The gruff voice of Sirius came out of the corpse, cutting Harry deeper than any physical wound he had experienced.  
“I’m sorry.” He said, voice cracking slightly. “But you aren’t Sirius. I didn’t kill you.”  
Looking at the direction he thought was up, he yelled. “You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to scare me Pitch!” Harry spat out the name, like a bad taste in his mouth.  
Harry’s eyes widened as he saw the next swipe from the corner of his eye, too late to dodge. The very solid hand connected with his shoulder. With an unnatural strength Harry was pushed off his feet, sent flying off whatever he was standing on. It was then that Harry started to panic. He couldn’t fly.  
Landing heavily, Harry rolled to lessen the impact. Sitting up at lightning speed, Harry desperately tried to summon a pumpkin. Nothing happened.  
“Shit!” Harry swore. The corpse was coming closer for its next attack.  
Come on, anything! He pleaded with himself as he tried to access his powers. He had done it only a moment ago, sensing the spirit, why couldn’t he now?! Throwing a hand in the air, he tried to call one of his newly discovered abilities; his bats. But once again, he couldn’t.  
Scrambling up, he crouched into a defensive stance. Why didn’t he ever think about learning hand to hand combat in the war?! He found himself wishing to have his phoenix wand, that it had not broken, that he found a way to fix it. But even if he had it, Harry knew it would be useless to him. He wasn’t a wizard anymore.  
The corpse lunged, but this time Harry was ready. Ungracefully, he ducked out of the way, pushing at the thing hard enough to make it stumble.  
Harry backed off quickly, eager to put space between the corpse and him. His heart wretched at the thing spun around, glaring in hate with such familiar, but unrecognisable eyes.  
This isn’t Sirius. He told himself sternly. This isn’t my godfather.  
Backing off more, Harry frantically looked for the door. If he stayed in here, he wasn’t sure what would happen if the corpse got to him. He couldn’t see it, the fog was too thick, to make matters worse, the corpse was advancing fast.  
Harry stepped out of the way of the punch, but wasn’t expecting the corpse to throw itself forward. Catching Harry around the waste, it pulled Harry to the ground landing on top of him. Harry let out a rush of air as the thing fell onto his chest. Harry struggled underneath it, the terrible smell making his head spin.   
“Oh merlin.” Harry grunted as the corpse’s hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing. Harry spluttered, fingers raking at the hands around his neck, tearing away rotted skin. The grip only got tighter the more Harry struggled, the more he tried to drag in oxygen into his lungs.  
Harry’s chest was stinging, vision blurring around the edges.   
FUCK! Harry tried to shout. He was becoming desperate for oxygen, opening and closing his mouth. Saliva was gathering in his mouth, dripping down the side of his chin as he tried to buck the corpse off.   
As a last ditch attempt, Harry spat on the corpse’s face. It was enough to stun it, the grip on Harry’s throat loosened giving him a chance. Harry violently bucked again, rolling over and away from the corpse. Harry didn’t give himself the time to breathe; instead he stumbled into the fog. Using it as cover, Harry finally drew the much needed air into him. Coughing and wheezing, Harry hunched over, massaging his bruised throat. His eyes were watering, wiping the wetness away furiously, he tried to stand straight. He had to find the door, now.  
Harry went to step forward, only to collapse on his knees.   
Oh for Merlin’s sake! Harry ranted, climbing back onto his unsteady feet. Harry was still panting heavily, which he would have to stop soon to have any semblance of stealth. Taking a tentative step, then another, Harry soon found himself at a steady pace. He could hear the frustrated cries of the thing behind him, urging him forward.   
Come on, where is the bloody thing? By this point, Harry had his arms stretched out in front of him, looking blindly for the door he came through. The others footsteps were catching up to him, Harrys heart rate was rising with every second. Every sound made him jump in nervousness and trepidation. He sped up and stumbled over his feet, falling onto something solid. His heart soared as he felt what could only be a doorknob pressing into his ribs.   
He grabbed onto it and twisted, but the knob didn’t budge. Harry swore, jostling the knob with rising panic. The footsteps were getting closer now, speeding up.  
“I’m coming to get my revenge, Potter.” Sirius’s voice drifted through the place, echoing around Harry. Giving up on the knob, Harry raised a foot and smashed it against the door. The door rattled dangerously, but didn’t break. It sounded as if the corpse was running now. Harry slammed his shoulder against the door, ignoring the ache to repeat the action. Harry felt fingertips brush against his back just before he threw his whole weight into the door. The door burst open and Harry tumbled through. Landing in the hall way, he spun around, staring up at the open door, waiting for the corpse to jump out of the fog. Harry stayed frozen for a full five seconds, but the eerie fog just swirled, not crossing the threshold.   
Harry stuck out a leg, and slammed it closed with him foot. He let his body go lax and slumped down. Closing his eyes, he tried to block out the image of the dead godfather, but with little success. The haunting image was burned into his mind’s eye; he doubted he could ever just throw it out. Bringing a hand to his throat, he flinched as the tender muscle gave a twinge. That was definitely not a wondrous experience.  
“That was entertaining.” Pitch’s amused voice echoed around the house. Harry’s anger flared up again, giving him the strength to stand. The last thing Harry wanted was for Pitch to see him vulnerable.  
“You’re a dick.” Harry rasped. His voice scratched all the way up his throat, making him wince.  
Pitch’s laughter only infuriated Harry more.  
“Be that as it may, you still have quite a few doors to go through. Let’s see; You’re uncle’s room, the guest room and the cupboard under the stairs.”  
“So going through them will get my out?” Harry asked, voice cracking.  
“I may find it in my heart to let you out of the house.”  
“What heart?” Harry snapped.  
Pitch left him with another chorus of laughter.   
Harry leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and taking in deep, slow breaths. His lung were still burning from being starved from oxygen, he wanted to remedy that before venturing through the next door.   
When he could breathe relatively normally, he opened his eyes. It was strange that he wasn’t exhausted, but he would take anything that would help him through these….what were they exactly? Tests?  
Pretty shit tests. He grumbled to himself. Glancing behind him, the guest room stood out at him.   
“Yeah, hell no.” Harry glared at the door. He slid down the wall, fingers pressing curiously into his tender neck. It should be healing by now, but then again his powers weren’t working. With a groan, he slammed his head on the wall behind him. He should have asked Pitch about that.   
Bringing his legs up to his chest, he rested his head on his knees. Now that the adrenaline was slowly removing itself from his system, a new feeling washed over him. Harry, for the first time in a while, was lonely. Truthfully, he missed Jack. The winter spirit made great company and Harry couldn’t help but wish, no matter how much of a bad idea it sounded, that he was with him.   
The empty feeling in his chest dug deeper at the thoughts of his friend. Ever since Jack and Harry had become good friends, Harry never really felt lonely anymore. Even when they weren’t in close proximity to each other, Harry always knew that Jack was only a quick trip away. Even that was rare from them, they were often together. Maybe Jack needed him as much as he needed Jack?  
But it wasn’t that easy anymore, Harry couldn’t fly out of where ever he was and surprise Jack with a pumpkin to his head. Would he ever be able to see Jack again? Harry let out of whine at the thought. He definitely didn’t like that possibility. He felt like he was being suffocated all over again, but all he could do was sit there, wallowing in his misery.   
He was there for what felt like hours, just sitting. He really couldn’t be bothered to get up. But a voice he had been ignoring for the majority of his misery came back, it sounded strangely like Hermione.  
You’re not going to get anywhere just sitting there! Get up and face your fears. Unfortunately for him, the voice had a point. Getting up slowly, he wondered that he may have to start worrying for his mental health.  
Walking towards the guest’s room, he didn’t hesitate on opening the door. He was absolutely sick of this; he wanted to get it over with. With little care for his health, still grumpy and upset, he strolled into the room with false bravo.  
As it had previously, the door slammed shut. Harry squinted, trying to see through the dim lighting. Cautiously, he took hesitant steps, crouched low. If he was going to run into something like he had with Sirius, he had to be ready.  
Harry froze as he heard a pained whimper coming from his left. He spun, hands in front of him. What he saw didn’t just make his arms drop, but his heart too. Teddy was chained up to what resembled a wall, gashes littering his body, blood trickling down his arms and torso, staining his tattered clothes.  
“Teddy…” Harry’s voice cracked as he hurried to the boys side.  
“Harry, please help me….help me.” The boy said softly, as though it pained him to speak.  
This isn’t real this isn’t real this isn’t real.  
“Harry…aren’t you… going to help me?” He gasped, wrenching Harry’s heart out of his chest. Fumbling desperately with the chains, Harry pulled on them, yanking them. They didn’t budge.   
“Why did you do this to me?” Teddy whimpered, opening a bloodshot eye.  
This isn’t real this isn’t real this isn’t real.  
“I didn’t…Ted.” Harry said quickly, reaching out to Teddy, only for him to flinch away. He felt his heart snap as panic and grief flooded his mind.  
~squiggly~  
North, Sandy and Tooth were waiting for Pitch. It was Easter and they all knew that this was the perfect time for Pitch to make his next move. It would be stupid if he didn’t, if Easter pulled through the battle would sway into their favour.  
North glanced over to Sandy and nodded, tightening the grip on the hilt of its scabbard. When Pitch would attack, they would be ready. North was feeling quite confident thanks to Sandy; the spirit had come up with a plan to ensure Easter was going to continue.  
Bunny was safe at the North Pole, with the majority of his eggs. A quick trip through Bunny’s rabbit hole made an easy way to keep the eggs safe. Sandy was always the voice of reason, North knew if Harry had not taken that hit, they would be lost without Sandy’s cunning. He dreaded to see the day when the ‘mother’ of the group was lost.  
All of them suspected that Pitch wouldn’t see the move coming and would attack the Warren directly. North shifted on his perch, eyes scanning the expanse of grass and flowers. Sandy would give them the signal when he could feel the Nightmares coming, that was the plan.  
North just prayed it would work.  
He doubted that they would come out of this fight the victors. As soon as Sandy handed Jack over, in his semi-conscious…uhh…well, North didn’t really have much information where exactly Jack was. Was he solid? Or maybe his essence or something was floating around in Sandy’s dream sand. Honestly, the whole idea of it made North’s head hurt, and having Sandy try to explain it to him in pictures didn’t help either.  
Where was he? Right, handing Jack over. Well, when Sandy would hand Jack over in…whatever way he would do that, Pitch would get another boost of power. Pitch was already stronger by gaining Halloween’s essence, what goes better together than Fear and Halloween? And now they were about to add Cold to the toxic mix.   
Seeing as Sandy was weaker than Pitch, thanks to Halloweens power, the dream sand should put up little resistance to transferring into Nightmares. They weren’t sure what would happen when Jack would be forced into the Nightmares. Again, North tried not to think too much on it, he didn’t want to contract a headache right before the fight.  
North hoped he was making the right decision. The anxiousness building up in him was overwhelming, what if it didn’t work? Shaking himself, he berated on his negative thoughts.  
Jack will find Harry; he is too determined to fail.  
In the corner of his eye, he saw Sandy perk up. Tensing, he prepared to bring out his swords. A picture flashed over Sandy’s head, a Nightmare.  
Not two seconds later, black shadows burst forth from the tunnel before them. North’s barely managed to pull out his heavy swords and cut through a Nightmare before it kicked him. He easily slipped into the fight, cutting down shadows left and right. It was up to Sandy now.  
~squiggly~  
Sandy shot above the other, viewing the fight from the sky. North and Tooth were putting up a valiant fight, but they couldn’t hold up for long against wave after wave of Nightmares. For one that was cut down, three more would appear. It didn’t help their situation that Pitch had sapped Harry of his powers, using them for his own gain. Bats sprang out of the tunnel, flying wildly towards the Guardians.   
Sandy could feel Jack poking around curiously, it was quite a strange feeling to have someone else in your mind. He had one shot at this, he had to do it right. He flew down, dodging through the Nightmares and bat, determined to find Pitch. It did not take long, thankfully. Pitch stood on top of a grassy hill, above the chaos. He seemed perfectly content to watch as his Nightmares drove the Guardians back. A different Aurora seemed to radiate from him, Sandy supposed he was having a bit of fun with Harry’s powers. Or perhaphs that was Harry himself, Sandy thought hopefully, that Harry was trying to find a way out.  
Aided by his gift of silence, he swooped down, unknown to Pitch. Floating as to have them face to face, he tapped Pitch lightly on the shoulder. He spun around, only to meet with Sandy’s fist. Stumbling back, he griped his nose.  
“That was uncalled for!” His shout was muffled by his hands clutching his nose.   
Sandy concentrated on the feel of Jacks essence. The essence of a Spirit is what made up their physical body, this could be warped into, for lack of a better term, a ‘spirit’. Harry faced the same advantage. The only problem they faced now was escaping Pitch.   
Sandy shot forward, slamming his palm onto Pitch’s forehead, pouring Jack into a similar realm, though much, much darker.


	15. Of Love And War

Darkness. That’s all Jack could see. It was the complete juxtaposition of the blinding light he was wrapped in moments ago. Jack patted himself down, well at least he felt solid. He’s movements were lethargic and slow, almost as if he was dragging his arms through water.   
Jack dragged his legs in front of each other, taking uneasy steps. He had a mission; that was to find Harry.  
As the thought of Harry crossed his mind, he swore he could feel his limbs become easier to move. He smirked grimly -or at least he thought he did- as he trudged on. Harry was alive, and there was no way the idiot called the boogey man was going to stop him from getting to his best friend.   
Jack stopped, frowning as he tried to see something in the inky blackness. How was he going to find Harry anyway? He could have been closing his eyes for all the good the canvas of Pitch’s mind was doing him.   
Worry started nagging at him. For the first time he wasn’t completely sure he could save Harry, or find him in the least.   
Spinning around on the spot, Jack wondered why this hadn’t occurred to him earlier. He thought he had spun around, he also thought that he had thought of that sentence. Jack tried to clear his mind; it was getting hazy and confusing. What did confusing mean again? No matter, meanings of words didn’t concern him right now. What did was finding the dark haired Spirit of Halloween.  
Jack almost chocked as he tried to reach for his magic. Where was it? Jack started to panic, he couldn’t be without his magic, he couldn’t remember a time he had never had it. Oh god this was bad, he’s magic was the only thing he owned. He couldn’t do this without…  
Jack gulped and took a deep breath. His fingers curled around his jumper he couldn’t see and hunched over. All he had to do was find Harry and then he would have his powers back.  
He hoped.  
He wasn’t good in situations like this, he was built for snowballs and fun times, not heroics, not like Harry was. Harry would probably have told him to pull himself together, but that was getting harder by the minute. He supposed that was Pitch’s effect. Jack shuddered; he needed to get out of here ASAP.  
Okay, so now that he was here, he supposed he may as well form a rough plan to get Harry back.   
Step 1: Get Harry back.  
How was he going to do that? He tried calling out, but found that his mouth stayed shut. Well that was slightly disturbing.  
Frowning, he started to pace. Or he thought he was pacing. It felt like he was pacing. Pushing aside the distracting thoughts, he focused at the task at hand. So he didn’t have his magic, so feeling around for other spirit presences was out of the options. Damn.  
Come on, there must be something. Did he have any sort of his magic left? He supposed that his existence in itself was magic, but the question was whether he could he manipulate it in any way.  
I have to try.  
There was no point in closing his eyes, except for dramatic effect. And Jack was all about dramatic effect, so he closed his eyes.  
He inhaled deeply, holding it before letting out with a puff.  
Where are you Harry?  
Jack tried to remember all he could about the spirit, from the way the corners of his lips twitched when he was reluctantly amused to the warm feeling Jack had when he was around Harry.  
God he missed him.  
Flashes of memories sprouted in his mind, replaying countless snowball fights, pranks and laughter. A lump rose in Jacks throat as a sad smile appeared on his face. He refused to lose Harry.  
And then something clicked.  
Jacks supposedly existing eyes snapped open, mouth agape. He had fallen for Harry, hadn’t he?  
How had he not seen it?! He didn’t know whether to be angry at himself or to be embarrassed that it took him this long. Was he always this slow? He hoped not.  
Jack’s chest ached with a re-new vigour. He had to find Harry and it had to be soon, and when he did he was going to kiss the living daylights out of him. Of course he didn’t really know how to kiss, but he would learn on the job.   
Jack gave the first genuine chuckle in what felt like eons, his smile returning to his pale face.   
Then something peculiar happened. It felt as though someone had tied a string to his chest, tugging on it gently in the direction of his right. Turning to face it, Jack followed the string. He noticed that it glowed slightly, a dulled golden colour that led off into the distance. Jacks heart sprang; this might be his chance to find Harry. Without complaint, he started up a quick jog and followed the light.  
O.o  
North collapsed to his knees, watching with bleary eyes as the last of the Nightmares escaped. The battle had been unforgiving, tearing through their merge efforts. Although they did survive, which was an uplifting thought. It hadn’t taken long for Pitch to realise that Bunny and his eggs weren’t at the Burrow, deciding his efforts were better concentrated on finding Bunny he left.  
Grabbing one of his swords, he gripped the hilt and pushed the sharpened metal to the ground, using it as leverage to stand. At least Bunny would be at his full power, Easter was in full swing. Or at least he hoped.  
“Is everyone alright?” He called out, looking around the clearing. Sandy stumbled out of and overgrown patch of grass, which he had fallen into after a particular hard kick to the chest, giving North a thumbs up before deciding it best for him to sit down.  
A drenched Tooth sat up next to the lake of water, rubbing her temples.   
“They tried to drown me!” She squawked indignantly.  
“Yes, but I saw choke-hold you got them into.” North chuckled. Anyone who tried to go against Tooth was making a mistake. Shame everyone seemed to underestimate her.  
Tooth gave him a smirk. “Like it? Nice to know I haven’t gotten rusty.”   
“Wonderful as always, wouldn’t expect anything else.”  
“Aw, thankyou North.”  
Sandy interrupted, looking rather stiff as he flew over. He looked at the two pointedly while an egg formed above his head.  
“Sandy is right; we should go check if Easter has been successful.” North nodded, taking an uneasy step. “Damn this leg.”


	16. Love Me Dead

Jack’s heart lurched as he starred up at the two story house. It was altogether too neat and tidy, the word ‘sterile’ came to mind. It was also the place Harry was being kept.   
Whatever had led him here has disappeared when the house was in sight. Seeing the house was almost as shocking as seeing that golden light, it was just firmer confirmation that he had eyes here, and that was comforting.   
Jack bit the inside of his lip as he approached the house. He was going into it defenceless, with only luck on his side that was famous for following Harry. He took a deep breath as he placed his hand on the door handle, pushing away the looming foreboding he felt.  
The door creaked as he opened it painfully slowly. With the slightest hesitation, he stepped in.   
“Harry?” He called out. He took this chance to look around at his surroundings. On his right was a staircase, with a small cupboard underneath. A hallway was to his left, leading into what looked to be the living room. Jack gave the cupboard an odd look; he could feel something in there. Jack decided he would stay away from there. He stood awkwardly in front of the door as he waited in vain for any kind of response.  
Where to start looking? Jack eyed the hallway, moving cautiously to it. The walls were a light shade of pink, pictures hanging along them. He plucked one off the wall and squinted at it. What he assumed was a flesh coloured beach ball dressed in a sailor’s uniform looked back at him. Blinking, he hung the picture back up, wondering why any parent would let their child get into such a state. Jack would call Bunny perfect before he let any child wear a sailor’s outfit.  
Gaining some of his confidence back, he continued down the hallway, glancing into each room he past. The Lounge Room was as empty as the Kitchen had been.   
He made his way up the stairs, taking two at a time. The walls here were also covered in pictures, but this time he didn’t stop to take a look. Reaching the top, he peered down the next hallway. There were four doors, one at the end, two on the left and one on the right. They also gave off the same feeling the cupboard did. Jack bristled; this was not a safe place.   
“Harry?” He called out. He was gifted with silence that made his skin crawl. Harry had to be in one of these doors, he was scared what may happen to him if he opened the wrong one.   
Jack paced back and forth, eyeing each door critically. He didn’t really have a choice, he’d have to guess. He walked over to the nearest door, the one on the right. Placing a hand on the door knob he twisted.  
But then he heard something.  
Dropping his arm, he looked over to the door at the end of the hallway. He could have sworn he had just heard a…there it was again!   
“Harry! Are you in there?” Jack yelled, scrambling his way to the door. He pressed his ear up against the wall. He could just hear a faint sob through the wood.  
Jack’s heart pounded in his throat, he grabbed onto the door handle and stumbled into the room.  
The door was slack on its hinges as Jack took quick steps into the dim lighted room.   
Jack’s heart stopped. There, in the middle of the room, was Harry crying over Teddy Lupins body.  
It felt like the breath had been knocked out of him as he looked at the horrific scene. There was blood everywhere.  
“Harry.” Jack’s voice cracked. “It’s just one of Pitch’s tricks.”  
He took quick steps over and tried to grab onto Harry’s shoulder. With a violent wrench, he dislodged Jack’s hand.  
“Harry we need to get out of here.”  
“Go away.” Harry moaned pitifully. “You’re not real.”  
“Harry, we need to-“  
“-NO!” He roared, shoving Jack. “I can’t leave him.”  
“He’s not real-“  
“Neither are you!” He shouted, stumbling away.  
This wasn’t working, he need to get Harry away from Teddy fast. He glanced over at the broken body and swallowed the lump in his throat.  
Harry turned his back on Jack and hurried his way back to Teddy’s side.  
“I’m not leaving.” He muttered under his breath repeatedly.   
Jack’s jaw squared, darting forwards and wrapping his arms around the other Spirits torso.  
“No!” Harry tried to fight back as Jack dragged him closer to the door. Jack tightened his grip as he felt one of Harry’s kicks land on his shin. There was no way he was letting go of Harry now.”  
“You don’t understand!” Harry screamed, “It’s my fault, I need to stay with him!”   
An elbow connected with his ribs, the other catching him in the arm. Tucking his head into Harry’s neck to protect himself from serious harm, he gave one last heave. They tumbled through the door, Jack shoving it closed with a loud bang. Harry detangled himself from Jack and leapt at the door, fumbling for the doorhandle. Grabbing him by the shoulders, Jack spun him around and pinned him against the door.  
“You’re not going anywhere that’s not with me.” Jack flushed his body up against Harry’s to stop him from escaping. Harry twisted and kicked, trying to loosen Jacks hold. Jack barely managed to hold him into place.  
“It was fake Harry. Pitch is just messing with your head.”  
“But what if he’s not?!” Harry cried.  
“I promise you Harry. Trust me.”   
After what seemed like hours, Harry finally stopped struggling, instead gripping onto Jacks jumper and burying his head into his chest. Jack was surprised to realise that he could feel tears in his own eyes. He ducked his head into Harry’s neck, taking a deep breath.  
“I missed you.” Jack said, Harry’s neck muffling his words.  
“What are you doing here Jack?” Jack barely caught the words as Harry spoke into his jumper.  
“Saving you.” Jack said, “Also trying to figure out how to kiss you.”  
“What?” Harry raised his head, eyebrow raised.  
“I’ve never done this before, so don’t make fun of me if I’m terrible.” Harry was about to answer, expression knitted in confusion as Jack bent down and pressed his lips to Harry’s.  
Harry made a small noise of surprise, before leaning into the kiss. It was better than Jack could have ever thought it could be. Harry’s lips were rough and addicting. Jack darted his tongue out, tasting Harry’s bottom lip. He felt Harry gasp, the grip he had on Jacks shirt tightened.  
They pulled apart, both looking ruffled.   
“How’d I do?” Jack asked nervously. Harry grinned at the winter spirit, pecking his lips.  
“10 out of 10, would recommend it again.”   
Jack beamed, wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist.   
“I’m planning on it.”  
O.o  
Easter had been saved and faith restored for now. The big four were currently at North’s workshop, laughing and talking around a brightly lit globe.  
North ruffled an annoyed Bunny’s ears, earning a swipe from the Easter spirit.  
“Oi, watch those sausages you call fingers.” He scowled as he hopped away.  
“Don’t be so sensitive, Bunny!” North laughed as he followed him.  
An elf bumped into North’s leg.   
“There are those cookies!” He bellowed, swooping down to grab the plate. With a ruffle of the elf’s head, he straightened.  
North frowned as he saw Tooth and Sandy looking downcast. That would not do.  
He strode over to the pair, a beaming smile on his face.  
“My friends! Why the long faces?”   
Tooth sighed, “Just worrying, you know?” Sandy nodded with agreement.  
“Ah, I see,” He said, “For the mischievous pair, I’m assuming.”  
“Not just that though. Pitch has their power, it’s a surprise that he didn’t use them in the fight at the warren.”  
“You have to have faith, Tooth. Those two boys will get themselves out. Out here, there is nothing we can do for them but keep the hope alive and beat Pitch in battle.” He winked at her. “Sandy, have you been able to sense them yet?”  
Sandy shook his head.  
“Until they get out of Pitch’s mind, we can’t defeat him.” North nodded, looking up towards the moon. “You know I don’t ask much of you, old friend. But guidance for Jack and Harry would be greatly appreciated. North wasn’t disappointed when he got no answer. He knew the Man in the Moon had heard his request.   
“Now enough worrying. Cookie?”


	17. The End

~  
Pitch moved through the shadows, the darkness clinging to him, urging him to join them. He could feel the new power surging through his veins, it was incredible. Pitch sneered as he felt the new addition stir. Honestly, what were the idiotic guardians thinking? Giving him Frost? Not that he was complaining, soon he would have winters powers too. Then, nothing could stop him.  
Well, nearly anything. Pitch glanced up and the moon, he wasn’t worried, when was the last time the man in the moon actually interfered? He didn’t. He made Spirits to do everything for him.  
But this time, there wasn’t a spirit to stop him. Even the mighty Sand Man had fallen to the force of his attacks, and that was just with Halloween’s power combined with his own.  
Pitch swooped into a child’s house, scowling. Now that the guardians had successfully saved Easter, most of the children had their faith restored. He had to work double time to break that faith again, and he had to do it fast. Because of the tremendous set back, he had stopped keeping an eye on Harry. And God knows what Jack was doing. He waved his hand over the sleeping child, the dolphin swimming around her head turning into a shark. Slipping out of the house, he continued to the next one. This work was absolutely tedious, the worse thing was that he couldn’t even make his Nightmare’s do the job for him, they didn’t have brains. They were more of a brute force to use against the Guardians.  
Waving his hand over the next child, the tiger cub that pranced around changed into a ferocious full grown tiger. He felt another stir from Jack, but shook it off. Jack couldn’t do anything, and it was highly unlikely that he would find Harry.  
Pitch took off again, heading for the next house.  
How long had he been at this? Almost two days? Taking over the world was hard.  
Pitch felt a more powerful twitch from Jack. He worried his lip, hesitant to choose whether to enter the next house or check on the two. The only way they could escape was if they felt no fear. Well, as long as they can’t find each other, they will fear for the other.  
It will be fine, he reassured himself as he glided into the house. Hallows will be too caught up with the doors, constantly finding something else to fear. And he was sure that the heavy and strange effect the place had on Spirits would keep both on them in check.  
Never the less, it was time to speed things up. He barley gave much thought for the next kid, changing the golden puppy floating above her into a three headed Cerberus. He remembered Hades showing him the guard dog three hundred years ago. Quite a frightening creature, so of course he loved the fear it could strike into the dead. He had almost gotten drunk off of it.  
Ducking out of the house, he flew to the next one. This little girl was dreaming about dragons, she seemed to riding on its neck, whooping in joy. With a flick of his hand, she fell off, hurtling to the ground.  
Stepping back into the shadows, he re-appeared in the street. That was the last house in this country. All in all it hadn’t taken that long, two days for an entire country was pretty impressive.  
Pitch stepped into the shadows, foot disappearing into the inky blackness. He froze suddenly, eyes growing distant. He could feel something. It was…building in strength. His eyes widened and with a scream of pain, Pitch collapsed to the ground, clutching his head. His head throbbed, sending waves of pain through his body. He convulsed on the ground, his heart beat synchronized with the pain. Digging his palms into his eyes, he gave another wretched yell. He couldn’t think straight, all he could do was crawl into a foetal position.  
The pain stopped as fast as it had come. Pitch drew in a shaky breath, realising he had been holding it. His limbs twitched from the memory of the pain as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees. Sweat dripped off his brow, he reached up a hand to brush it away. What in the hell was that?!  
Pitch struggled to his feet, muscles weak. He swayed slightly, trying to get his bearings. If he could only draw from his power he could-  
All thoughts rushed from his mind as panic settled in. The power he had gained was gone. He fumbled around, trying to find any trace of Jack or Harry.  
Nothing.  
Nothing.  
Pitch started to pace. Oh this was bad. This was very bad.  
Jack and Harry were gone.  
O.o  
Harry groaned, blinking open his eyes. The ground he was on was soft and springy and there was a weight on top of him. Whatever was on him started to shift, before rolling off him.  
“Harry?” Came a croaking voice from next to him.  
Harry looked up, eyes bleary. He could make out a mess of white hair.  
“Yes?” He replied, trying to sit up.  
His vision slowly started to clear. They were in a forest, sprawled in a grassy clearing. The moon was perched in the sky, showering the two in light. Harry looked over to Jack, who was rubbing his temple.  
“A-Are we out?” Harry asked hesitantly. If they were, he couldn’t guess why. It looked real enough, but so did that house. Harry shuddered; he didn’t think he could take it if this was another one of Pitch’s tricks.  
Jack’s head snapped up, taking a deep breath.  
“I think so.” Jack said, a grin breaking across his face. Harry’s breath was knocked out of him as Jack tackled him. He landed on his back Jack hovering above him grinning.  
“My magic seemed to be working.” He said, cackling as a whirlwind of snow surrounded them. Harry rolled his eyes, a smile breaking out across his face.  
“That means we’re back.”  
“It does.” Jack pressed his lips to Harry’s, he could feel the smile on his lips.  
(SMUT STARTS HERE)  
Harry sighed happily into Jacks lips, reaching up a hand to bury it into Jack’s hair. Jack let out a sound from the back of his throat, his mouth opening slightly. Harry darted his tongue out, touching the winter Spirit’s lips for permission. Jack’s mouth opened further and Harry delicately dipped his tongue in, exploring his mouth.  
Jack groaned, flushing himself up against Harry. Hands gripped Harry’s hips. He pulling his mouth away, instead pressing light kisses on Harry’s jaw.  
“I have no idea what I’m doing.” Jack mumbled into Harry’s neck.  
“Me either.” Harry said, running his free hand up Jacks back.  
Jack went back to kissing down Harry’s neck, drawing gasps from Harry as lips tickled over his erogenous zones.  
Hands snuck under Harry’s shirt, lightly skimming over the skin. Lips returned to Harry’s as he moaned quietly, arching up into the hands exploring his chest. Harry’s breath hitched as Jacks fingers skimmed over his nipples.  
“Did you like that?” Jack smirked, running his hands back over the pink nubs.  
“I might have.” Harry squeaked.  
Jack kissed him again, this time letting his tongue slip into Harry’s mouth.  
Well he picks things up quickly. Harry thought dazedly. Jacks hands wouldn’t leave his chest, brushing his thumbs against his nipples.  
Harry hips snapped up, thrusting into Jack’s. The both froze, shocked.  
“Uh- sorry.” Harry apologised, a blush spreading across his face. Jack was also blushing, his usual pale cheeks flaming red.  
“I…didn’t mind.” Jack gave a hesitant smile. “Not something I would be against doing.”  
Harry blinked up at him, cheeks turning a darker shade of red. His erection was now standing to attention, pressing painfully against his jeans. He glanced down at Jacks erection, lips darting out to wet his lips. The jumper he was wearing covered it up pretty effectively, but he was sure he could feel it when he brushed up against it. Harry looked back up to see Jack’s eyes trained on his lips.  
Closing the distance between them, Harry leaned up and kissed Jack again. Gathering all his courage, he grinded his hips into Jacks. They both let out moans, pulling their lips away before crashing back in. Jack pushed down on Harry, pressing his erection onto Harry’s. They rutted against each other, pleasure blossoming in Harry’s mind.  
He gripped Jack’s hip with more force, nibbling Jacks lower lip as their clothed erection continuously rubbed together. Harry was panting, arching up into Jack.  
Jack buried his face into Harry’s neck, breathing heavily as their hips sped up. Moving up and down, creating friction against fabric, their members only separating by a few scraps of cloth. Harry could feel a pressure building up in his lower stomach as the pleasure rose.  
“Fuck.” Harry muttered, letting go of Jacks hips. He pushed up Jack’s Jumper rubbing his hands against Jack’s nipples. The winter spirit gave a small cry at the pleasure, pressing his fingers desperately into Harry’s skin. Reaching down, he pulled both erections from the restriction of the clothes. He pressed them together and shivered at the new intensity.  
Harry threw his head back, moaning loudly as the pre-come slicked their penis’s, allowing them to slide more effectively against each other. Harry could feel his orgasm coming. He placed a hand over Jacks, rubbing the heads.  
“Jack!” Harry shouted, crying out as his orgasm crashed into him. Stars appeared behind his eyes as waves of pleasure shot through him. He vaguely heard Jacks shout of pleasure as he came. Their hips slowed their movements and toes un-curled. They were both covered in sweat and come, but Harry didn’t have the energy to move.  
Jack was dead weight on top of him. He wrapped his arms around the other boy, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. He breathed in deeply, taking in the thick smell of sex. It was then that he realised it was snowing.  
“Did you do that?” Harry asked, snowflakes settling into his black hair. Jack looked up, shrugging.  
“S’pose.” He mumbled, before going back to using Harry as a pillow. Harry sighed, pressing his lips to Jack’s temple.  
“Come on, we need to let the guardians now we’re out. I don’t know why we didn’t do that in the first place.”  
Jacked looked at him, a rare expression of vulnerability on his face.  
“You regretted it.” He winced, shifting to stand up.  
“No!” Harry said quickly, pulling him back down. “I really don’t. It’s just that there’s a psychopath on the loose. I…uh, I wouldn’t mind doing it again sometime. You know, after Pitch is put away.”  
Harry cursed himself for blushing again, but his words seemed to have reassured Jack.  
“I can agree with that.” Jack smirk, pressing his lips to Harry’s quickly, before standing up. Holding his hand out to Harry, he pulled the Halloween Spirit up. “You’re right, we need to get going.”  
(SMUT ENDS HERE)  
They freshened up in a nearby lake, before returning to the clearing.  
“You wanna try North’s place first?” Harry asked, smirking as he accessed his magic. He hadn’t realised how much he had missed it.  
“Yeah, they should be there.” Jack agreed, shooting of in the direction of the Noth Pole. Harry was right behind him, tailing the winter Spirit. It was so nice to be able to fly again. He closed his eyes as the air rushed past his face, the grin on his face growing wider. He’s eyes snapped opened when he felt a hand slide into his.  
“If you’re gonna keep your eyes closed, you’re going to go the wrong way.” Jack said, keeping his head looking forward.  
“So what, are you going to drag me there?” Harry asked, smirking.  
Jack glanced over at him, smiling.  
“If I have to.” He simply said. Harry’s arm jolted forward as Jack sped up suddenly. Harry tried to match jacks speed, failing miserably.  
“Okay okay, Jack! You can stop!” Harry yelled over the wind. Jacks only response was to slow down a tiny amount, just enough for Harry to come up next to him.  
Neither of them let go of each other’s hands.  
~squiggly~  
The two spirits hovered outside one of the windows into the workshop. Jack pushed on the window, sliding it open. They hopped inside; the warmth from the fire place ablaze hit them. North was asleep on a stool, hunched over a desk and snoring away. The pictures of North’s reindeer pranced around his head, suggesting that Sandy was here somewhere.  
“Honey I’m home.” Jack called out. North jolted from his spot, toppling off the seat.  
“Jack? Harry?!” North stared at them from the ground, mouth agape. “BOYS!” North bellowed, getting to his feet, a smile threatening to break his face.  
North bounded up to them and swept them in a hug. Their feet dangled as they struggled to slip out of North’s arms, they needed to breathe after all. North dropped them, they staggered to their feet.  
“You’re back!” North laughed joyously. “SANDY! They’re back!”  
There was a crash is the next room, and the door swung open with a bang. A short yellow spirit zoomed out, stopping suddenly in front of the boys. Sandy gazed disbelieving at them before throwing his hands in the air with a beaming smile on his face. Harry could have sworn he was buzzing with excitement.  
“Sandy, send the signal. The others should be here to congratulate the boys.” He said before turning spinning around on the spot to face one of the Yetis passing by, “Get some of the elves to bring up some drinks and food. Another celebration is in order!” North whooped.  
Sandy rushed over to the panel in front of the globe. Grabbing the lever, he twisted it and pushed it down into the panel. Lights coloured rainbow shot up around the globe, sending the signal for the guardians to gather.  
“Where is everyone?” Jack frowned, “I thought they would all have been here.”  
“What are you talking about Jack?” North said, turning back to face them. He glanced in between Harry and Jack, “You’ve been gone for two days.”  
“What?!” Jack gaped. “No. It barely was five hours.”  
North frowned, “Where ever you were must have messed time for you.”  
“Wait a sec.” Harry said, stepping forward. “Then how long was I away for?”  
“Around a week, my friend.” North sighed. “But you are here now, and that’s what counts.” He said, placing a heavy hand on the lithe Spirits shoulder. North beamed down at him, and Harry couldn’t help but return an uneasy smile.  
Just then, three elves came wobbling into the room, holding a plate of cookies on top of their heads.  
“Ah, you read my mind!” North bounded over, taking the plate swiftly from them.  
Jack leaned against Harry’s side, looking at North as he gave the begging elves some of the sweet snacks. He gazed over to the white headed Spirit, who was smiling contently. They didn’t notice North’s knowing smile.  
They all jumped as Bunny suddenly appeared from the floor. The Australian accented bunny brushed himself off before looking up at North, whose smile just seemed to broaden impossibly.  
“So what was so important? I was in the middle of cleaning up the mess you made mate.”  
North nodded in the direction of Harry and Jack, anticipating the rabbit’s reaction. Bunny turned lazily, only to stiffen when he laid eyes on the newest additions to the team.  
“Blimey.” He breathed. “You actually made it.”  
“Happy to see us Bunny?” Harry smirked.  
Bunny quickly changed his expression to the familiar scowl. “Yeah well, don’t get a big head about it.”  
“Bunny, care for a cookie?” North asked, holding out the tray.  
Shrugging, he picked one up.  
“I wouldn’t mind a biscuit.”  
North rolled his eyes, putting the tray back down. “Whatever you say bunny”  
Harry lead Jack over to one of the plush couches, tired and wanting to sit down. Jack seemed to be in the same position and plonked himself down next to Harry with a sigh. North, Sandy and Bunny hurried over as well.  
“So how did you escape?” Bunny asked.  
“We…uh…don’t really know ourselves.” Harry said, “Jack found me and then-“ Harry paused, blushing, “And then we, um, just got out.”  
“Strange…” North said, with a thoughtful expression.  
“What was it-“  
Bunny was cut off as the room was suddenly shrouded in shadows. The fire in the hearth blew out and there was a high-pitched, gut wrenching laughter.  
“Did you think you could get away so easily?” Pitch’s voice echoed around the room. They all sprung up to their feet, cursing.  
“Where the bloody hell is Tooth when you need her?!” Bunny asked them, pulling out his boomerangs.  
“Oh I wouldn’t worry about her. We will be long done before she gets here.” The voice echoed again.  
Bunny growled in anger “Where are you, you coward?!”  
“I’m right here,” There was an enormous sound of glass shattering at nightmares stormed through the windows. A nightmare leapt for him, teeth bared and ready to strike. A rush of adrenaline course through Harry. He lashed out at it, cutting right through it. Blinking, he looked down at the scythe that had suddenly appeared in his hands. It had carved skulls running up the small wooden handle, with a blade seemingly made out of shadows.  
Harry didn’t have time to think as another Nightmare attacked. The arm holding the scythe shot out again, carving through the next shadow horse. Shrugging, he tightened his grip on the weapon. It sure was a step up from Pumpkins.  
Harry looked around frantically, trying to find Jack. He could hardly see anything in the mass of darkness galloping around him. His blade came around in a curve, dispatching multiple Nightmares. It didn’t seem enough, however. No matter how many he cut down, two more would take its place. Harry started hacking his way through, dodging kicks and charges.  
A hoof hit his back and he went down, scythe sliding across the room until he couldn’t see it.  
Another Nightmare charged. He quickly formed a pumpkin in his hand, throwing it clean through the horses head. He scrambled to his feet and ran in the direction his weapon had disappeared. He couldn’t lose it now, it was the handiest thing he’s had since his wand.  
Taking the risk of being plumbed by a Nightmare, he left the chaotic safety and shot up into the air, into the open. His eyes skimmed around, seeking either his scythe or Jack. A shot of ice skittered past his face, turning around he saw Jack backed into a corner with five Nightmares closing in.  
Oh shit this wasn’t good.  
His eyes desperately searched for his weapon, finally landing on it. It must have been kicked away, for it was on the far side of the room. He darted down, grabbing the hilt before rushing over the Jack, who had taken care of three of the five Nightmares. Bringing his scythe down on the last two, they disappeared.  
“Where did you get that?” Jack asked, as he flattened his back against Harry’s, so they were covering each other.  
“Dunno. Just appeared.” Harry replied, killing another Nightmare.  
“Have you seen Pitch?” He heard Jack grunt as he brought down a Nightmare.  
“Not yet, but we’re bound to.”  
They had been fighting for what seemed like hours and the Nightmares were finally thinning out, Harry was sure he was black and blue from all the times a stray hoof had gotten him. Harry glanced around, panting. North seemed to be doing fine, Bunny too. If only Pitch would come out.  
A flicker of black robes caught Harry’s eyes.  
“I think I found him!” He called out to Jack, before rocketing off in the direction he had seen him. Harry landed next to the globe, where Pitch was extinguishing lights.  
With an outraged roar, Harry swiped his scythe at Pitch. The black clad Spirit jumped back just in time, missing the blade by an inch.  
Pitch looked disdainfully down at the weapon. “Is that one of your powers? A bit boring, don’t you think?”  
Harry didn’t say anything, instead taking a threatening step forward. This…thing had tortured him. The image of a torn and bloody Teddy flashed in his mind before he shook it off. He lunged forward for another swipe, only to misjudge the distance and miss. Pitch was backing up against a book case, and Harry smirked. This was his chance.  
The blade swung in a deadly arch, aiming for pitch’s throat. The boogyman’s hand snapped up and grabbed the hilt before it could cut him. Kicking out Harry’s legs from under him, Pitch slammed his body into Harrys shoulder, forcing them to switch positions. Pitch pinned Harry against the bookcase, scythe trapped in between their bodies.  
“That was obviously you’re first time wielding such a weapon.” He smirked. “Maybe you should learn how to use something before you try it on a being hundreds of thousands years old.”  
Pitch pulled a hand back, black sand forming into a knife. Harry looked on in horror; he could not be in a worse situation. He gulped, heart rate speeding up in panic.  
“You smell that harry?” Pitch said, pressing it to Harry’s throat, “That’s the smell of your fear.”  
There was a loud thunk, and the blade fell away. Pitch collapsed, revealing Tooth standing behind him, fist still stretch out.  
“Oh my goodness, are you alright Harry?” She asked, pressing her hands over his gaping face, “He seems to have nicked you with the knife before I got here. Sorry it took me so long, but Pitch dropped by to make sure I wouldn’t show.” Harry noticed what looked like rope burns around her wrists.  
“He tied you up?” He asked, rubbing his neck.  
“And set a Nightmare on me. Had to fight it with both hands behind my back.” She winced, before looking at all the others fighting. ”Come on; let’s help them get rid of these last ones.”  
~squiggly~  
Jack’s ice tore through the last of the Nightmares. They were all covered in bruises and cuts as they gathered around Pitch’s unconscious body.  
“What are we going to do with him?” Harry asked, who had Jack’s arm slung across his shoulder.  
“Good question.” North muttered. “Any ideas?”  
“I could bury him under a slab of ice.” Jack said, shrugging.  
“It won’t last, when he wakes up he’s sure to throa but It’ll have to do for now. At least until we find something more permanent.” Said Bunny, nudging Pitch with his toe.  
“We’ll have to check his lair to make sure he didn’t leave anything behind. And we can’t forget Tooth’s fairies that are there. Anyone know where it is?”  
Sandy raised his hand, looking sadly down at Pitch.  
“Oh Jack!” Tooth perked up, “You’re memories are probably with the others at Pitch’s. You’ll be able to see them.” She beamed.  
“Y-yeah, they might be!”  
“It’s settled then. Jack, Bunny and I will bury Pitch. Youse can go with Sandy to Pitch’s to free the fairies and gather the teeth.” North nodded. He bent down and picked up Pitch’s limp body.  
“You didn’t hold back, did you Tooth?” He chuckled.  
“When have I ever held back?” She said innocently.  
“Good point.” He nodded to her.  
While the guardians were bantering, Harry had turned to Jack.  
“So, I’ll be seeing you in a bit then.”  
“I suppose so.” Jack grinned.  
“I’ll bring your memories back stat.” Harry stated leaning into Jack. Arms wrapped around him and he sighed. “Are you as tired as I am?”  
“Yeah, I could just do nothing for days but lay down.”  
“You already do that.” Harry snickered. He squirmed as Jack poked him in the side.  
“Come on ya love birds, we have work to do.” Bunny called over to them. They pulled away blushing, but not without sending a glare Bunny’s way.  
“See you in a mo.” Harry said, pressing a quick kiss to Jack’s lips.  
“I’m counting on it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, my friends.


End file.
